Quality Payments Update

As part of  the current funding and contractual imposition you will know that a Quality Payments Schemes has been introduced.  Please find below an update on several issues regarding the Quality Payments.

Pharmoutcomes
There is a Pharmoutcomes  Module available for contractors to use.  This is accessed in a slightly different way to other modules.   It is located by clicking the Assessment menu tab at the top of the pharmoutcomes screen.   This module allows your pharmacy to  record its progress towards the achievement of both the Gateway Criteria and the Quality Criterion.   Its very easy to use and also contains links to resources and information for each of the criteria.

The LPC would encourage pharmacies to make use of this resource.  One of the advantages of contractors using  the pHarmouctocmes  module will be that LPC's will be able to see collectively which areas are complete and which are not.  This will help us to target further  support in the area.  

PSNC Webinar
On 16 March at 7.30pm PSNC will be hosting a Quality Payments Webinar.  The webinar will provide you with a comprehensive update on the Quality Payments Scheme with all the latest information available from NHS England.
On the night Alastair Buxton, PSNC Director of NHS Services, will talk you through each of the criteria, explaining how to meet them and the self-declaration process. He will also highlight all the guidance and resources available from PSNC.
Click here for further information and to register for the webinar

Dementia Friends Training
Don't forget we also have 1 more dementia friends training session running on the 29th March at the Quality Hotel Boldon.   You can book onto this by clicking HERE.

Checklist
Following our quality payments event last month the LPC agreed to send out an updated Quality Payment Checklist to help simplfy the requirements and deadlines required.   This checklist can be downloaded from our website or by clicking here.  

NHS Choices
Please note that the NHS Choices system has changed some of its templates.  Some pharmacies who have updated their NHS Choices profiles early on after the announcement of the QP have noticed that their profiles have been partially wiped and repalced with a template that needs filling in.  The template is quite easy to use so contractors need not worry about this however we would advise you to double check your NHS Choices entry again prior to submitted your decalrtion to ensure it is up to date.

NPA Resources  - 
The NPA have contacted us to offer contractors some support towards the QP.  These resources are open to all contractors (regardless of being a member of the NPA or not).  Please see the message from NPA for details of their support.

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Message from NPA

Quality payments scheme – NPA resources

Part of claiming quality payments requires the production of an annual written patient safety report.  The NPA Pharmacy Services team has produced resources as described below to help NPA members  meet this patient safety report quality criterion.
The resources comprise:

• Blank template annual report – a template annual report form for contractors to complete electronically, or print off and complete by hand
• Blank template monthly report – an optional monthly version of the annual report form; contractors do not need to complete this to meet the criterion, but completing the monthly form will make it quicker and easier to produce the annual report
• General guidance – a resource providing general guidance on the written safety report, including what should be included in the report, how to collate and analyse the evidence for the report, what to do with the report, and the importance of having a ‘just’ culture in the pharmacy
• Guidance on completing the template annual report with examples – a useful resource which takes contractors through each section of the annual report form, providing guidance and examples of how to complete it

To meet the patient safety annual report criterion, on either the April or November review date, a written patient safety report must be available for inspection at your pharmacy. This criterion is worth a minimum of £1,280 and can only be claimed once. The written report has to demonstrate evidence of:

• Analysis, learning and action taken in response to near misses and patient safety incidents
• Implementing national patient safety alerts
• Sharing learning

Medication Safety Officer
As Medication Safety Officer (MSO) for all community pharmacies in England with fewer than 50 branches, I would also like to remind your contractors of the patient safety resources available to them from the NPA. These include the NPA Incident Report form, guidance documents, drug and device alerts and my MSO quarterly reports which are available on the Patient Safety (MSO) page of the NPA website.  

The online NPA Incident Report Form can be used by any pharmacy contractor in England with fewer than 50 branches and not just NPA members to report dispensing errors – reports can be printed off, or emailed to contractors to keep as a pharmacy record.  Pharmacies using the NPA Patient Safety Incident report form should keep copies of forms submitted as these will contain evidence of the analysis, learning and action taken, which can be used in the annual patient safety report.
The NPA MSO Quarterly reports provide a summary of errors reported to the NPA, and include top tips to prevent such errors occurring in the future.  These will be useful for contractors when compiling their annual patient safety report. The online Incident Report Form and the MSO quarterly reports are open-access, so contractors do not need to be NPA members to use them.

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me by email L.Hannbeck@npa.co.uk

Kind regards
​NPA