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Gateshead & South Tyneside LPC is delighted to announce the launch of an innovative new service in Gateshead. The LPC has been working behind the scenes with the commissioners at Gateshead council to bring this new service to you.
The service is a really valuable addition to the substance misuse service already commissioned in Gateshead. It enables pharmacies to be remunerated for the extra care and support they often already provide to their substance misuse patients. Patients can be referred into the service either through
Each provision needs to have the patients consent and is shared with Gateshead Recovery Partnership for the ongoing care of these patients. Full details of the service are contained in the service specification. There are no additional training requirements and the specification for this service is now included in the supervised consumption service that you will have already signed up to. The service provision attracts a £15 fee. Click here to view the Service Specifications The service will be operated via PharmOutcomes and should be live in your systems now.
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 Change4Life in South Tyneside has now become 'a better u', it’s the place to find information and advice about self-care to help residents look after their health and wellbeing – just with a brand new look!
Please see a message below from the public health lead for a better u. Pharmacies in South Tyneside can order resources to help with promotion. Some of this work will compliment your healthy living pharmacies / champions work. Below is a list of items that can be supplied to pharmacies. (Attached to the bottom of this email are some resources to help pharmacies to see the branding and help with ordering the items below)
Sami Welcome to a better u Our health and wellbeing is affected by everything around us. a better u can offer help, guidance and advice for everyone in South Tyneside. If it affects any part of health or wellbeing, we want everyone to have the right tools to support their self-care. The aim of a better u is to make self-care easy for everyone so that residents can: • feel healthier and happier • look after their physical and mental health and wellbeing • take the best care of themselves and others, as easily as possible. If anyone needs a helping hand, a better u will be there to point them in the right direction. As a better u champion we will provide you with trusted advice and jargon free information to help customers in your pharmacy to improve their health, wellbeing and happiness. From pregnancy to childhood and throughout adulthood, a better u is there every step of the way. Whether it’s staying active, eating well, managing a health condition, learning a new skill, meeting new people or making lifestyle changes – a better u can help. We’d love you to join our champions team and help to improve the health and wellbeing of South Tyneside. Find out more about a better u and how to become a better u champion at www.southtyneside.gov.uk/abetteru Resources Click Here to view the resources This is just a reminder that declaration window for the current Pharmacy Quality Scheme is now open.
Community pharmacy contractors can make a claim for a PQS payment up until 11.59pm on Friday 3rd March 2023 through the MYS portal. Contractors must have evidence to demonstrate meeting the gateway criteria and the domains that they have claimed for by the end of 31st March 2023. However, contractors must make their declaration by 11.59pm on Friday 3rd March 2023 based on what domains they intend to meet. Click the following links for some useful documents to ensure you're on track with the scheme: PSNC Training Requirement Summary PSNC PQS Action and Evidence Portfolio Workbook. For more information visit psnc.org.uk/quality-and-regulations/pharmacy-quality-scheme/ The LPC is delighted to announce that following discussions with the former South Tyneside CCG (now known as place based NHS team) they have allocated some funding to help Pharmacies improve infection control and ventilation within the pharmacy. They have allocated £3600 for each pharmacy in South Tyneside. The fund can be used for items going forward or to reimburse items that occurred during the covid pandemic.
Gateshead & South Tyneside LPC will help facilitate the process. Please click this link to access the application form. This is welcome news for the pharmacies of South Tyneside and again shows a collaborative and integrated approach from the local NHS team. To support independent prescribing in community pharmacy, the NHS is looking to establish ‘Pathfinder’ sites to identify and test the delivery of independent prescribing across all regions in England.
They are hosting a webinar for community pharmacy contractors and community pharmacists interested in becoming a Pathfinder site to find out more about the programme including the expression of interest process that is being led by Integrated Care Boards. The webinar will take place on Wednesday 25th January 2023 from 7pm – 8pm. Please register your interest using the following link: Independent Prescribing Webinar: Expression of Interest to join Pathfinder programme | NHS England Events If you have any problems please contact [email protected]. Our colleagues in South Tyneisde Adult Recovery Services (STARS) have offered places on their RCGP Training course to Community Pharmacists. Please see details below about the event and who to contact to book. Although this was set up for pharmacies in South Tyneside , a few places can also be taken up by Gateshead Pharmacists.  Certificate in the Management of Drugs Misuse Part 1 (RCGP Accredited)
Course Overview This multi-disciplinary course is ideal for those working as part of a shared care scheme intending to provide treatment to drug users as part of a locally or nationally enhanced service. Those who would like a better understanding of the strategies used to support and engage drug users in treatment. Learning Outcomes • Engage individuals in treatment. • Identify harmful and dependent drug taking. • Diagnose severity of drug dependence. • Develop a range of harm reduction strategies. • Understand treatment options to enable the provision of safe and effective care. • Become aware of the current policy context regarding recovery. • Deliver enhanced services for drug users Available dates 15th November 2022 – 10 places 25th January 2023 – 20 places 8th March 2023 – 20 places To request your free place please email [email protected] Please note The course will be delivered on-line and is a full day training 9:30 – 16:30. You will be required to complete e-learning as part of this course to receive your certificate of accreditation. The course is Royal College of GPs (RCGP) Accredited  The LPC has learned that contractors are eligible to sign up for priority access to utilities and would like to ensure all contractors are aware of this.
Inclusion on this register should mean your pharmacy has priority access to electricity, water and gas supplies in the event of shortages. This is a useful precaution to boost your pharmacy’s business continuity plan. (Community pharmacy contractors confirm each year that business continuity arrangements are in place via their Data Security and Protection toolkit declarations.) How to sign-up? Your utility bills may explain how to sign-up and provide contact details. Alternatively, identify who your energy supplier is at the Energy Networks Association’s (ENA’s) website or search for “PSR” and or “Priority Service Register” on your utility company websites. Whilst signing up, tick the information-sharing box to confirm your details can be shared between utility companies for PSR purposes. When requesting priority (usually via an online form):
 Workforce challenges are currently adversely impacting most sectors of the UK economy, but they are being particularly acutely felt within community pharmacy with serious consequences for pharmacy contractors.
PSNC and the other national pharmacy bodies have called for improved workforce planning to be undertaken by the Government and NHS, but for this to happen, high quality workforce data for community pharmacy needs to be available. Mandatory completion of the workforce survey – required by 30th November 2022For this reason, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and PSNC agreed that it would become a Terms of Service requirement for contractors to complete the annual Health Education England (HEE) community pharmacy workforce survey, which will provide a full picture of the community pharmacy workforce, including identifying the number of vacancies and regions where these are particularly hard to fill. Regulations were laid in Parliament which made this a requirement of the Terms of Service from 1st October 2022. All pharmacy contractors are required to submit data via the survey, during the eight week submission period, which closes on 30th November 2022. The data is being collected through two different methods:
What will I need to do? Pharmacy contractors will be contacted via emails from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to complete the survey online, with the first email having been sent on 6th October 2022. The email will contain further information on the process and a link to the online survey. Those that do not receive an email invitation from the NHSBSA can expect their head office to submit data on their behalf. If in doubt, check with your head office. If you think your pharmacy should have received an email invitation to complete the survey from the NHSBSA, but you cannot find one, please email [email protected]. Contractors who do not return the survey, will receive reminder emails from the NHSBSA to complete the survey before the closing date. For further information see the PSNC page by clicking here.  We would like to remind contractors that they can claim an Aspiration payment for PQS 2022/23. The deadline to do so is 4th November 2022 at 23:59.
The payment is claimed through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal and the process to claim is vary simple and will take just a few moments. Contractors will be paid their Aspiration payment on 1st December 2022. The Aspiration payment is optional; if you do not want to claim it, it will not impact your ability to claim a PQS payment during the declaration period. However if you are planning to undertake the PQS work you may find the earlier payment useful. To find out more about 2022/23 PQS and Aspiration Payment click here to visit the PSNE Webpage. Following concerns about the wellbeing of our pharmacy teams during some of these tough times, one of newer members Andrea Ford, has put together a useful article of information for pharmacy teams. We would recommend you familiarise yourself with what is available and be vigilant with your work colleagues and look out for anyone who may need support.
Pharmacy WellBeing Support It has been a challenging and unprecedented couple of years for everyone in community pharmacy, both at home and at work. Faced with cost-of-living concerns, increased workload, funding challenges and ongoing staffing shortages, we are now entering the cold and flu season with Covid-19 rates on the rise again. Despite facing a challenging winter ahead, we and our teams continue to work hard but unfortunately increasing numbers of us are feeling burnt out. While we strive to improve the health and wellbeing of our patients, it is important not to forget about our own wellbeing along the way. With this in mind, we would like to raise awareness of the wealth of free resources available from Pharmacist Support to help support, maintain and improve your mental health and wellbeing. Pharmacist Support is an independent, trusted charity providing a wide variety of support services to pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists and pharmacy students. On the Pharmacist Support website https://pharmacistsupport.org/ you will find a range of free resources to support you both at work and at home. These resources cover a breadth of topics from mental health and wellbeing to physical health & finances. They also include videos, workshops and printable resources. Free counselling sessions are available to those who are experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, a change in family circumstances, bereavement and other psychological issues. There is also Listening Friends available for pharmacists to reach out and speak to a peer in confidence over the phone. You can sign up to receive free wellbeing resources direct to your inbox for you and your team at https://pharmacistsupport.org/about-us/contact-us/newsletter/ If you haven’t already done so, we would encourage you to take a look and please spread the word to anyone you feel would benefit from this support. As always, thank you to everyone in our community pharmacy family for all your incredible work. |
Copies of our older Paper Based News Letters (The LPC News) can be found by clicking below.
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