Whilst a lot of focus is now moving to Covid Vaccinations we must not forget that Pharmacy is playing an important role in flu vaccination.  Please find below some updates regarding flu
NHS website to launch Flu vaccine finder for patients

A new community pharmacy flu vaccine service finder was due to  go live on the NHS website service finder webpage during mid-December 2020. This tool within the NHS website allows patients to find local pharmacies that provide the NHS commissioned service and check their eligibility.
With more patients using online services due to COVID-19, it is important to keep the information on your NHS website pharmacy profile up-to-date.
Your NHS website profile displays whether your pharmacy can offer the flu vaccine this year. You should update your profile if you can no longer offer the service, e.g. because the stocks within your pharmacy become exhausted.
Registered profile editors will receive an email confirming the launch of the tool.
Updating your profile. To update your NHS website pharmacy profile, go to nhs.uk,click the ‘Profile editor login’  option available within the footer of every webpage, enter your pharmacy login details and change the flu vaccine availability setting. If you are providing the NHS service, add ‘Seasonal flu vaccination service (at risk groups)’ to your profile. If you are not offering the vaccine, you should remove the service from your profile. You should also do this if you would prefer not to appear in search results or if you are temporarily unable to provide the vaccine to patients.

Guidance on use of DHSC flu vac stock updatedThe Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has, updated its guidance on the use of DHSC procured flu vaccines by pharmacy contractors.
The change to the guidance now allows contractors to use the DHSC procured stock to vaccinate frontline health and social care workers through occupational health schemes or through private vaccination arrangements; previously, vaccination of such workers through private vaccination services, where the patient pays for the vaccination*, was not allowed.
This change in the DHSC guidance does not allow more general use of the DHSC procured flu vaccines in private vaccination services; contractors can currently only use the stock for patients in groups A and B (patients, including those 50 to 64 years old, and frontline social care workers as set out in appendix A of the community pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service specification, and frontline health and social care workers through private vaccinations or occupational health schemes).
Full information on the requirements for accessing the stock is available in the DHSC guidance, which all contractors who want to access the stock should read:
Read the DHSC guidance
* The patient may subsequently claim back the cost of the vaccination from their employer.


Council Service - For those signed up to the PSNE Service
Please ensure that any council employee who presents for a flu vaccine who are aged over 50 are actually converted to an NHS vaccination. This should be processed through the NHS vaccination service on PharmOutcomes and vaccines from the DHSC stockpile purchased from your wholesaler used for the vaccination. Please keep a record of the employee’s details to add them to the PharmOutcomes module ‘Council staff converted to NHS’ as detailed above. This allows us to report the total number of council employees vaccinated by PSNE commissioned pharmacies. 

Vaccine Updates
We are constantly in discussions with the councils regarding vaccine availability and maintaining a list of Pharmacies.  To help staff know where to go we would like to update the Pharmacy list by annotating the pharmacies who currently have stock.  If your pharmacy has vaccine stock and would like us to annotate your pharmacy on the list please contact myself or Ann and let us know.  We will then put a comment next to your pharmacy indicating that a vaccine is available and the date.  We will make it clear that staff still need to contact you to confirm and book in as stock will be on a first come first served basis.

This is an urgent call for staff to help staff covid vaccination clinics.

South Tyneside CCG and PCNs have been in discussion with the LPC to explore the possibility of Pharmacy staff helping to run the PCN led covid vaccination centres.   They are looking for staff to volunteer to work within the centres and need support urgently in light of the speed that these centres are being mobilised.

We have agreed, what we believe, is a reasonable fee structure for pharmacists, and pharmacy staff who may be interested in helping.  There is also a possibility of receiving a backfill payment if it is needed to release pharmacists from their pharmacies.

The fee details, once finalised, will be passed on to your PCN Leads for fast dissemination to interested people.  Please contact them or LPC officers for more information.

This is a good opportunity for you or staff  to personally get involved in helping the national immunisation programme against covid.

If you are interested in this there are a number of steps you will need to follow.

1. Click Here and Express your Interest.

2.  Complete the online training on the public health website
https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/covid-19-vaccination-e-learning-programme-now-live/

3. Register with the IMPAX hub.
 This portal will be used by the  PCN / CCG to manage the workforce (rotas, payments, HR etc) for the clinics.    Sheridan Salah can help set up user accounts and provide a training demo.  Please email - sheridan.salah@nhs.net

4. Please contact your insurer (PDA, NPA, etc) to advise them you intend to undertake this role and ensure you have adequate cover.  Please do not assume you will be covered by existing arrangements.  

5. Be familiar with Pharmoutomes as this will be used for centralised recording of vaccinations.  Whilst the modules are not quite ready we believe they will not be too dissimilar to other pharmoutcomes services.

Urgent Cover Needed

Cover is required urgently for sessions throughout December.  So please act promptly if you can assist.  Cover is required 7 days per week, 8am - 8pm, including bank holidays.

In addition community pharmacy non-clinical staff may be required to assist at clinics with admin, chaperoning, crowd management tasks etc as the clinic capacity increases in coming weeks.  If any pharmacies have staff that wish to be involved then please send an EOI on behalf of them too, clearly stating that they are non-pharmacists and what their role is please.

The LPC has also contacted Gateshead PCN's to discuss similar arrangements and will advertise in due course any agreed details.  This does not prevent Gateshead Pharmacists or staff volunteering in the South Tyneside area at this point.
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