NHS service
At this point, due to circumstances beyond our control, we do not have the NHS service specification, contract or PGD. We are waiting for these documents from the NHS England area team. We can tell you that we have agreed that the service will be remunerated at £12 per vaccination. Whilst the LPCs locally are disappointed that this is less than previous years and could be viewed as the fee being paid as less than that paid to other primary care providers, we have worked hard to ensure that the service has been commissioned this year.
This year all those eligible for an NHS vaccination can be vaccinated in the pharmacy, provided they are aged 18 or over. This is because children aged 17 years and under should be referred to their GP for the nasal vaccination which has been introduced this year. We are hopeful that pharmacy will be commissioned to administer the nasal vaccination next year and this is being trialed in Cumbria this year.
Claims for the service will be made via PharmOutcomes.
As soon as we have the NHS service specification, contract and PGD, we will notify you and make them available on the Northern Pharmacy website: www.northernpharmacy.net
Private service
If you accessed the LPC commissioned Novartis training, you will find copies of the support documentation on the Northern Pharmacy website soon. If you trained with any other provider, please ensure you follow the details of the PGD provided to you by your trainer.
All private vaccinations need to be recorded on PharmOutcomes.
Vaccine stock
As the NHS PGD will be generic, you may use any vaccine.
If you are using the Novartis PGD for your private service you will be required to use Novartis vaccines. However, we have been advised that stock will not be available for the start of the service on 1st October. As Novartis do not want to delay pharmacies from beginning their service provision, they will be issuing a generic PGD to allow you to use any vaccine. Once their stock is available to order, this PGD will be withdrawn and you will need to revert to the Novartis vaccine specific PGD.
Novartis will be providing us with PIP codes for their ring fenced pharmacy stock and we will forward these as soon as they are available. In the interim, we advise pharmacists to order whatever vaccine stock is available to them to commence service on 1st October, through their normal supply chains.
PharmOutcomes
As previously indicated, all vaccinations need to be recorded on PharmOutcomes. This will generate an invoice for payment to NHS England for the NHS vaccinations you provide and will generate data about the service for all vaccinations, NHS and private, to theLPC.www.pharmoutcomes.org
***** What you need to do now ******
1. Ensure you have your PharmOutcomes log-in details and know how to access the system.
2. Log-in and go to the ‘Admin’ tab and ensure all your details are fully completed and correct, for example, email address and telephone number.
3. Within the next seven days, you will need to log-in and check the service section. You will find a new service ‘Seasonal Influenza pharmacist accreditation details’. You must complete the details required for each trained pharmacist, in order for the vaccination service templates to be activated for you. The training details will be validated prior to activation.
4. Once the vaccination service templates are activated, you will see three additional services when you log-in, NHS service, private service and patient evaluation.
Patient evaluation
After every vaccination (private or NHS) ask your patient to complete an evaluation form. This will also keep them in the pharmacy, so you can be assured that they are not going to develop anaphylaxis after they leave the pharmacy. These evaluation details are then transferred to the PharmOutcomes service template. This is essential to provide robust data to the LPCs and NHS England regarding patient choice of service provider and quality of service experience.
Resources
As soon as we receive the NHS supporting documentation, this will be made available on a resource page on the Northern Pharmacy website. Supporting documents, such as the consultation form/GP notification form, evaluation form, etc. will also be available on this page. This page, as previously stated, will also contain Novartis documentation.
Marketing materials
Those who have completed the Novartis training will receive marketing materials with their support pack. These are being sent out in batches and we understand that delivery has now started.
As we do not yet have any NHS marketing material, we have updated that which has been used in previous years and this is available on the marketing page of the Northern Pharmacy website. Please start using this material as you see fit to advertise your service to patients. A direct link to the marketing page is www.northernpharmacy.net/marketing-material.html
As we more information, we will keep you updated so make sure you are on our mailing list or following us on Facebook or twitter.