Archives: Contractor Email

This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams, including details of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BSO ALERTS

• Weekly Drug Alerts are available here.
  • MPS 2914 – Medicines Defect Information – NovoRapid & Saxenda FlexTouch pens 20 July 2022
  • MPS 2912 – Medicines Recall – Amiodarone 50mg/ml injection 19 July 2022
• Weekly Shortages Information is available here.
• Serious Shortage Protocols are available here.

CPNI ALERTS 

• Second Concessionary Prices – July 2022 22 July 2022
• Current Northern Ireland Specific Medicines Supply Shortages 21 July 2022
• Common Registration Examination: Registering Concerns 20 July 2022
• REMINDER Pharmacy First: Emergency Hormonal Contraception 19 July 2022
• First Concessionary Prices – July 2022 19 July 2022
• REMINDERCommunity Pharmacy Interim Adherence Service 18 July 2022
• Living Well Campaign Schedule 2022/23 18 July 2022

DOH(NI) ALERTS 

• Breastfeeding Welcome Here Scheme 22 July 2022
• Community Pharmacy Care Home Support Service (CPCHSS) 22 July 2022
• REMINDER Pharmacy First Emergency Hormonal Contraception Service 21 July 2022 
• Prescribing and Supply Arrangements for Specialist Medicines in Northern Ireland: Update to the Red Amber List (June 2022) 20 July 2022
• Northern Ireland MHRA Authorised Route (NIMAR) for Supply of Prescription Only Medicines: Update for Primary Care 20 July 2022

Please bring this to the attention of your pharmacy team(s).

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s Contractor Calendar and Contractor Emails.

Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via the CPNI’s Medicine Shortage Reporter and Situation Reporter.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

The second update of concessionary prices were granted today for July 2022:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Celecoxib 200mg capsules	30	£5.97
Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml oral suspension	70	£5.00
Clotrimazole 500mg pessaries	1	£5.20
Cyclizine 50mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules	5	£6.16
Desloratadine 5mg tablets	30	£4.91
Flucloxacillin 500mg capsules	28	£2.34
Isotretinoin 20mg capsules	30	£15.00
Meloxicam 15mg tablets	30	£2.75
Memantine 20mg tablets	28	£1.45
Methocarbamol 750mg tablets	100	£13.45
Nebivolol 2.5mg tablets	28	£13.65
Olmesartan medoxomil 40mg tablets	28	£4.88
Rabeprazole 10mg gastro-resistant tablets	28	£4.43
Rabeprazole 20mg gastro-resistant tablets	28	£9.95
Rivastigmine 1.5mg capsules	28	£3.78
Rivastigmine 3mg capsules	28	£4.20
Telmisartan 20mg tablets	28	£4.82
Topiramate 25mg tablets	60	£2.45
Travoprost 40micrograms/ml / timolol 5mg/ml eye drops	2.5	£13.50
Trospium chloride 20mg tablets	60	£13.50
Valsartan 80mg capsules	28	£5.19

Concessionary prices will be paid against the usual code, no additional endorsements are needed.

Please continue to notify CPNI of any pricing issues you are experiencing via our new Medicine Shortage Reporter.

Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

• Further to Contractor Update on the 7 July 2022, CPNI is continuing to liaise with the Department of Health, SPPG, Pharmacy Wholesalers and PMR providers in relation to the current acute supply shortages affecting NI licensed medicines as well as the consequential PIP-code and DM&D code issues that have also arisen
• It is important that any product supply shortages and price increases, especially where the medicine cost price exceeds the tariff price are notified to CPNI via the CPNI Medicine Shortage Reporter.
• CPNI has requested urgent mitigations and will continue to work with Departmental and SPPG colleagues to address these ongoing supply issues.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague
As you will be aware, there has been extensive national pharmacy media coverage of significant difficulties experienced by Foundation Training Year (FTY) pharmacists in a number of centres in England in respect of the Common Registration Examination (CRA).

CPNI has also been made aware of difficulties and concerns in respect of the conduct of the CRA held in Northern Ireland on 29 June 2022. CPNI has raised the matter with the Pharmaceutical Society of NI (PSNI) seeking assurances that the PSNI will undertake a full assessment of the administrative and/or organisational difficulties that were experienced to ensure no repeat occurs and to issue an appropriate response and offer any remedial actions which may be necessary.

PSNI has asked us to highlight that the correct procedure for raising concerns in respect of the CRA is via this link regexam@pharmacyregulation.org.

ACTION

• Contractors are asked to bring this contractor update to the attention of any FYPs who sat the CRA this year and direct them to the website cited above to register any concerns they have where appropriate.

Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence HERE from Kathryn Turner, Pharmacy Lead, Strategic Planning and Performance Group.

SUMMARY

• The service will ensure that women and young people aged 13 years and over have timely access to sexual health advice and free EHC (including the provision of bridging contraception) when clinically indicated.
• The aims of the service include:
  • Increasing the knowledge, especially amongst younger women, of the availability of EHC and bridging hormonal contraception from community pharmacies. 
  • Ensuring treatment is in line with best practice and NI Formulary.
  • Increasing the knowledge of risks such as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
• All pharmacists planning to deliver this service must undertake training necessary to meet the competency required to provide the service, this may include revision of training already undertaken earlier this year. Training details are available HERE.
• The pharmacy contractor is responsible for ensuring that the service is delivered in line with the service specification and guidance by suitably trained pharmacists. The following resources are available to support service delivery:
  • Service Specification and Guidance
  • PGDs for Ulipristal, Levonorgestrel and Desogestrel
  • Consultation form
  • Claim form
  • Fraser competency form
  • Contract
  • NPA template SOP for EHC and bridging contraception
  • Know Your Options (KYO) patient information leaflet
• A3 and A4 printed copies of the service poster will be distributed to pharmacies along with a supply of the KYO patient leaflets.
• An on-line survey for service users will be set-up to assist with the evaluation process. SPPG will provide pharmacists with a QR code to share with service users to complete the on-line survey approximately 3 months following service launch and periodically thereafter.

ACTION

• Contractors and pharmacists involved in the provision of this service are asked to review the correspondence.
• All pharmacists planning to deliver this service must undertake training necessary to meet the competency required to provide the service, this may include revision of training already undertaken earlier this year. Training details are available HERE.
• All community pharmacy contractors meeting the service specification are eligible to offer the service provided they hold a contract with the SPPG. A signed copy should be returned to your local integrated care office by email by Friday 22 July 2022.
  • After this date the list of providers will be shared with GP practices, GP OOH services and Trusts to enable referrals to participating pharmacies.
• SPPG have requested that Contractors do not return a contract at this stage if your pharmacy is not in a position to offer the service. A contract should only be returned when your pharmacy is ready to provide the service; the list of providers will be refreshed in early September 2022 and re-issued.
• Pharmacies may wish to promote the service on social media using the Twitter and Instagram resources.
• If you have any queries please contact a Pharmacy Advisor at your local SPPG office.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

The first update of concessionary prices were granted today for July 2022:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Aciclovir 400mg tablets	56	£3.18
Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml oral suspension	100	£2.20
Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free	100	£2.53
Benzydamine 0.15% oromucosal spray sugar free	30	£4.30
Brimonidine 0.2% eye drops	5	£4.75
Dorzolamide 20mg/ml eye drops	5	£4.20
Famotidine 20mg tablets	28	£19.74
Famotidine 40mg tablets	28	£32.04
Gabapentin 100mg capsules	100	£3.45
Lacidipine 4mg tablets	28	£3.88
Lercanidipine 20mg tablets	28	£8.68
Mometasone 0.1% ointment	100	£9.79
Montelukast 4mg granules sachets sugar free	28	£6.51
Nizatidine 150mg capsules	30	£22.25
Norethisterone 5mg tablets	30	£5.99
Oxycodone 5mg/5ml oral solution sugar free	250	£8.25
Paracetamol 250mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free	200	£3.38
Promethazine hydrochloride 25mg tablets	56	£32.19
Sodium bicarbonate 500mg capsules	56	£3.65
Solifenacin 10mg tablets	30	£3.74
Solifenacin 5mg tablets	30	£3.14
Sulfasalazine 500mg gastro-resistant tablets	112	£56.99
Sulfasalazine 500mg tablets	112	£56.99
Trimethoprim 50mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free	100	£9.16

Concessionary prices will be paid against the usual code, no additional endorsements are needed.

Please continue to notify CPNI of any pricing issues you are experiencing via our new Medicine Shortage Reporter. Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind regards