Archives: Contractor Email

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

Dear Colleague

In today’s update: ECHO session 1930-2100, 26 Jan 2021, Concessionary Prices January 2021 – 2nd Update,  EOI: Community Pharmacy COVID-19 Mass Vaccination (CPC19V) Service, Reducing COVID transmission in staff rest areas, Reminders: Updating SITREPs and Extension to Living Well Campaign.

CPNI ALERTS 

Concessionary Prices January 2021 – 2nd Update

HSCB ALERTS 

Upcoming COVID-19 Community Pharmacy ECHO Meeting 26 Jan 2021. Click for agenda, attendance guidance notes and advice on security measures.

  • Metting ID: 7300812723 Passcode: 888561

 Expressions of interest: Community Pharmacy COVID-19 Mass Vaccination (CPC19V) Service including Annex B.

REMINDER: REDUCING COVID TRANSMISSION IN STAFF REST AREAS.

  • Summary: The PHA Contact Test and Trace Service have reported an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in community pharmacies where transmission has occurred between staff members. Transmission occurred when staff had been in close contact with each other during staff breaks and failed to socially distance or wear appropriate PPE.
  • Action: Review the correspondence. It is important to remind all staff that they should adhere to the required public health measures during rest/tea breaks and refer to the appropriate guidance on putting on and taking off standard PPE.

Northern Ireland Medicine Management Newsletter Vol 12 Issue 1.

REMINDER: UPDATING SITUATION REPORTS (SITREPs).

  • As you are aware community pharmacies are required to complete weekly SITREPs to support business continuity. In order to ensure that HSCB are responding to the most up to date information, the SITREP should report the current position within the pharmacy and any historic information is removed.

Schedule Update CP Service: Living Well Campaigns Extension Campaign 2 (2021/21) Vaccinations

  • Summary: In light of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme progressing further in its “roll-out”, it is recognised that there is an increased demand from the public for programme information therefore, it has been agreed that the current Living Well campaign “Vaccinations” will be extended for one month. This campaign will now finish on 28 February 2021.
  • Action: Review printable and additional resources as well as service information, that are available here.

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

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

Kind regards – stay safe – Gareth

SENT ON BEHALF OF DR. GARETH C. GILVARY

Governance & Support Pharmacist

Dear Colleague

The following concessionary prices have been granted for January 2021:

DrugPack SizeConcessionary Price
Eplerenone 25mg tablets28£8.10
Eplerenone 50mg tablets28£10.00
Irbesartan 300mg / Hydrochlorothiazide 12.5mg tablets28£15.93
Loperamide 2mg capsules30£2.39
Pregabalin 100mg capsules84£6.94
Pregabalin 150mg capsules56£3.76
Pregabalin 200mg capsules84£8.32
Pregabalin 50mg capsules84£5.70
Topiramate 25mg capsules60£22.18

This is the second update of concessionary prices for January 2021.

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

Concessionary prices may be granted up until the end of the month so CPNI will notify you of any further concessionary prices as and when they are agreed.

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

Concessionary Prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind Regards,

SENT ON BEHALF OF DR. GARETH C. GILVARY

Governance & Support Pharmacist

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence here for your attention, from Joe Brogan, Assistant Director of Integrated Care, Head of Pharmacy and Medicines Management.

SUMMARY

  • The HSCB in agreement with CPNI are considering launching a Community Pharmacy COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Service initially using the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine.
  • The HSCB is seeking expressions of interest from pharmacy contractors wishing to participate in this service.

ACTION

  • Contractors are asked to review the correspondence.
  • If interested in provision of the mass vaccination service for the Pfizer BioNTech  COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine under a Locally Required Service, please complete the expression of interest form here as Annex B and return to local offices.

If you have any queries in relation to this service, please contact: Brendan Kerr HSCB Pharmacy Co-coordinator: Email: Brendan.kerr@hscni.netTel: 028 9536 3914 or alternatively, contact the CPNI Office.

Please Note: A separate Community Pharmacy based COVID-19 Vaccination Service (similar to the GP COVID-19 service) is also being developed and expressions of interest will be sought separately at a later date when other COVID-19 vaccines are sufficiently available which do not require highly specialised cold storage conditions (e.g. AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine).

Local Integrated Care Offices

BELFAST
12-22 Linenhall Street | BELFAST | BT2 8BS
Tel: 028 9536 3926
Email: pharmacyservicesbelfast@hscni.net
SOUTH EASTERN  12-22 Linenhall Street | BELFAST | BT2 8BS Tel: 028 9536 3926
Email: pharmacyservicesse@hscni.net
SOUTHERN Tower Hill | ARMAGH | BT61 9DR Tel: 028 9536 2104
Email: pharmacyservicessouth@hscni.net
NORTHERN County Hall | 182 Galgorm Road | BALLYMENA | BT61 9DR Tel: 028 9536 2812
Email: pharmacyservicesnorth@hscni.net
WESTERN Gransha Park House | 15 Gransha Park | Clooney Road | LONDONDERRY | BT47 6FN Tel: 028 9536 1082
Email: pharmacyserviceswest@hscni.net

Yours sincerely

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive

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

Dear Colleague

In today’s summary:

  • Contractor Submission Reminders: Living Well, Home Delivery Service and Pharmacy First.
  • DoH launch of NI Hepatitis C Elimination Plan, Guidance on the COVID-19 Vaccine for Housebound Patients, Prescribing of Vitamin D as a preventive measure against COVID-19.
  • ECHO Session – 7:30pm 26 Jan 2021.
  • Weekly Drug Alert Summary.

CPNI ALERTS 

  • REMINDER: Living Well: as per previous correspondence pharmacies are required to complete a short online evaluation survey for the previous Living Well campaign ‘Looking after your health and welling being during COVID-19’ which ended 30 Nov 2020. Thanks to those who have already submitted your pharmacy response. There has been some excellent feedback from contractors via the survey, including reports of social isolation in the general public and how the LW booklet and community pharmacy teams provided comfort and reassurance at a time when the public were too afraid to contact other healthcare professionals. Approx. 100 pharmacies have yet to complete the survey here. Closing date 31 Jan 2021.
  • REMINDER: Home Delivery Service: as per previous correspondence pharmacies are required to complete a monthly return detailing the numbers of deliveries made from commencement of the commissioned service in Sept 2020. Thanks to those who have already submitted a return via secure email at the end of each month (Sept-Dec) to your local HSCB office email addresses, for those who have yet to complete please click here.
  • REMINDER: Pharmacy First: as per previous correspondence Pharmacy First for Winter Aliments commenced on 2 Nov 2020 and will continue to run until March 2021. All service documentation (including a service contract for return) and a CPNI training webinar is available here. CPNI is delighted that now in excess of 400 pharmacies are offering this service to their local communities. Contractors and pharmacy teams are reminded to use the new ‘monthly record forms’ for Pharmacy First data submission to the HSCB local office via secure email. This information should not be sent to BSO and last year’s triplicate Pharmacy First consultation forms should be disposed of.

DoH ALERTS 

HSCB ALERTS 

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

Pharmacy team(s) can also keep updated with drug information, alerts and shortages information via the BSO website. Please continue to notify CPNI of any pricing issues or supply problems you are experiencing via our Medicine Shortage Reporter.

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

Renewed thanks – stay safe – Gareth

SENT ON BEHALF OF DR. GARETH C. GILVARY

Governance & Support Pharmacist

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

Dear Colleague

In Today’s Summary: Concessionary Prices 1st Update January, Launch of Pharmacy Codeword Scheme for Domestic Abuse Victims and new variants of SARS-COV 2 virus; action for the Health Service.

CPNI ALERTS:

DoH ALERTS:

HSCB ALERTS

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s

Contractor Calendar or Contractor Emails

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

Thanks, stay safe.

SENT ON BEHALF OF DR. GARETH C. GILVARY|  Governance & Support Pharmacist

Dear Colleague

As you will be aware, the COVID vaccination of community pharmacy teams in now progressing well and CPNI correspondence outlines how pharmacy staff can avail of the vaccination.

We would advise all staff availing of the vaccine to read the following leaflet:  ‘COVID-19 vaccination – protection for health and social care workers’ available here which describes the COVID-19 vaccination for health and social care workers, including HSC Trust employees, care home staff and domiciliary and primary care staff. The leaflet explains why it’s important to get your vaccine and includes information on potential side effects and what to do next.

Contractors and their team(s) should note the following:

Will the vaccine protect those I care for?

The evidence on whether COVID-19 vaccination reduces the chance of you passing on the virus is less clear. Most vaccines reduce the overall risk of infection, but some vaccinated people may get a mild infection or an infection with no symptoms and therefore be able to pass the virus on. It is highly likely that any infection in a vaccinated person will be less severe and that they will be infectious for a shorter period of time. We therefore expect that vaccinated health and social care staff will be less likely to pass infection to their friends and family and to the vulnerable people that they care for.

After I have had the vaccine, will I still need to follow all the infection prevention and control advice?

While two doses of the vaccine will reduce your chance of becoming seriously ill, no vaccine is completely effective and it will take a few weeks for your body to build up protection.

So, you will still need to follow the guidance in your workplace, including wearing the correct personal protection equipment and taking part in any screening programmes.

To continue to protect yourself, your patients/residents, your family, friends and colleagues, you should follow the general advice at work, at home and when you are out and about:

• practise social distancing

• wear a face covering

• wash your hands carefully and frequently

• follow the current guidance

Yours sincerely

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE | Chief Executive