​Community Pharmacy Influenza Vaccination Service 2016/17 - Details

​The launch of the national community pharmacy Flu Vaccination Service 2016/17 is planned for 1st September 2016.
While not confirmed until the service specification and PGD are published, there a number of key points we believe community pharmacy contractors need to be aware of.
They are:

• The service is commissioned to run until 31st March 2017; this is one month longer than last year.
• Contractors must be sure to complete the form on the NHS BSA website to notify NHS England that they intend to provide the service for 2016/17 – this must be done annually.
• A separate PGD will be available for the community pharmacy Flu Vaccination Service (last year the PGD was not community pharmacy specific and was used by a number of healthcare professionals).
• The GP notification form requires contractors to include the reason why the patient was eligible; this is a new requirement this year.
• A new NHS England website will be available to support collation and submission of patient surveys.
• Payment claims must be submitted to the NHS BSA by 5th April 2017 – late claims will not be processed this year.
• NHS England has advised that consent forms should be retained for an appropriate period of time.

Find out more about this years’ service by clicking here

Training

As in previous years LPCs in the North East are trying to organise local face to face training which complies with the requirements of the service. At the time of writing I cannot confirm that local training will go ahead though we are hopeful that it will. As soon as I have confirmation either way I will let you know.
Those pharmacies which intend to provide the flu service should familiarise themselves with the training requirements. All the details can be found on the PSNC website. Click here for the information. A list of organisations which provide vaccination training for pharmacies can also be found on the PSNC website via the link above.

Flu webinar

PSNC is hosting a webinar on 24 August 2016 at 7.30pm on the community pharmacy influenza vaccination service.
The webinar will last for approximately 60 minutes.
The webinar will help you to:

• •Understand exactly how the service will work and how pharmacists can make their Declaration of Competence;
• •identify the main differences from the 2015/16 service;
• •Familiarise yourself with the data capture requirements for the service;
• •Know how to sign up for the service and claim for payment; and
• •Get top tips on running the service from a practising community pharmacist.

For More details and to register  Click here

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