The Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group and PSNC have published a new resource Completion of the patient safety report quality criterion ahead of the November Quality Payment review date.

​The quality criterion requires contractors to have a 
written safety report at premises level available for inspection at review point, covering analysis of incidents and incident patterns taken from an ongoing log, evidence of sharing learning locally and nationally, and actions taken in response to national patient safety alerts 

The resource explains how contractors can use the monthly and annual template safety reports to meet the quality criterion and lists questions and examples which pharmacy teams can consider to help them complete the report.
Contractors are reminded that they do not have to use the above template reports to meet the quality criterion. However, if contractors choose to create their own report they should ensure it contains all the information required by NHS England as detailed in their guidance .

For further information, including FAQs, visit the PSNC website 

Pharmacy contractors are reminded of the Quality Payments Scheme gateway criterion to edit or validate their NHS Choices entry for their pharmacy between 00:00 on 11th September 2017 and 11.59pm on 24th November 2017.
Since this requirement is a gateway criterion of the Quality Payments Scheme this must be met, otherwise contractors will not be entitled to claim for a Quality Payment.
Contractors are reminded that they are required to edit or validate three sections of their NHS Choices profile to meet the gateway criterion:

• their opening hours;
• the facilities the pharmacy provides e.g. consulting room, parking, etc; and
• the services the pharmacy provides e.g. Medicines Use Reviews (MURs), New Medicine Service (NMS), etc.

All three sections will need to have been edited or validated for the contractor to meet the NHS Choices gateway criterion. Even if all three sections are correct, contractors will still need to log into their profile and validate this information between 00:00 on 11th September 2017 and 11:59pm on 24th November 2017.

Contractors who plan to declare to the NHS Business Services Authority that they are offering either MURs or NMS or both services under the Advanced Services gateway criterion must also ensure that the service is visible on their NHS Choices profile. 


Even if contractors have recently edited or validated their NHS Choices profiles, for example, at the beginning of September 2017, they will need to do this again, within the above time period, to ensure they meet the gateway criterion.
A User Guide for contractors to guide them through the process of updating or editing their NHS Choices profile to support the Quality Payments Scheme is available on the NHS Choices website.
Contractors that have previously requested editing rights but have forgotten their password or for contractors that do not currently have editing rights, further information can be found on the PSNC website.
FAQsQ. I have viewed my NHS Choices profile and my opening times, the facilities the pharmacy provides and the services the pharmacy provides are all correct. Do I therefore meet the gateway criterion?
No. To meet the gateway criterion, contractors need to have logged in to their NHS Choices profile and either have edited or validated the opening times, the facilities the pharmacy provides and the services the pharmacy provides between 00:00 on 11th September 2017 and 11:59pm on Friday 24th November 2017.
Contractors must validate their profile even if their NHS Choices profile is correct otherwise they will not meet the gateway criterion and will therefore not be entitled to claim for a Quality Payment.


Q. The NHS England guidance states that I need to edit or validate my opening times, the facilities the pharmacy provides and the services the pharmacy provides on my NHS Choices profile. What if I don’t edit or validate all three parts of the NHS Choices profile?
The NHS England guidance clearly states that all three parts of the NHS Choices profile need to be edited or validated to meet the gateway criterion (the opening times, the facilities the pharmacy provides and the services the pharmacy provides) during the required time period. Therefore, if all three sections are not edited or validated, contractors will not meet the requirements of the gateway criterion and will not be entitled to claim for a Quality Payment.


Q. I edited and validated my NHS Choices profile a few days before 11th September as I received a letter from the NHS Business Services Authority advising me that I had not updated all three sections of my NHS Choices profile for the April review point of the Quality Payments Scheme. Do I need to edit or validate the three sections again?
Yes. In order to meet the gateway criterion for the November review point you must edit or validate the information again between 00:00 on 11th September 2017 and 11:59pm on 24th November 2017. If you do not edit or validate your NHS Choices profile during this period, you will not meet the gateway criterion.


Even if the information is correct on your NHS Choices profile, you will need to log into your profile and validate the information in the three sections.