Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Colleague

I write to provide Contractors, who will be providing COVID-19 vaccination services, with further information on the online community pharmacy COVID-19 VBS that is being developed by SimplyBook.Me with input from CPNI.

CPNI Directors endorsed the SimplyBook.Me VBS at their Board meeting last week on Thursday 11 March 2021. This online vaccine appointment booking system will be tailored for use by patients and community pharmacy teams in Northern Ireland to help streamline and manage requests from the public for COVID-19 vaccination appointments at community pharmacies when the service commences.

Each pharmacy that chooses to use the SimplyBook.Me VBS will have an online booking calendar template prepared for the sole use of the pharmacy and the patients who choose to obtain the vaccine from the pharmacy. The VBS will also be pre-configured to capture all the information needed in the service specification to book a patient for a vaccination and to assist pharmacy staff in completing the vaccination information submission to the HSC Vaccine Management System. Patient information associated with bookings will only be known by the patient and the pharmacy, and the pharmacy head office where relevant, thus ensuring patient confidentiality requirements and associated data governance requirements are met.

CPNI will be liaising with developers in advance of the launch of the community pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination service to:

  • Finalise with SimplyBook.Me the community pharmacy VBS on behalf of those pharmacies who choose to use this tailored VBS.
  • Develop a public facing community pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination landing page to enable patients to navigate easily to the online vaccine booking system of their pharmacy of choice.

Further information, including examples illustrating the booking calendar appearance, the information that will be available to the pharmacy team and costings are available HERE. In addition to the single pharmacy VBS there is a Group option for 2+ pharmacies and this option may be of particular interest to those pharmacies where a ‘head-office’ function would be beneficial. Details of this and the costings for this option are also provided in the SimplyBook.Me VBS outline.

The next stage for Contractors is to look at the proposal, decide whether they wish to use the SimplyBook.Me VBS, and if so, return the Microsoft Excel pharmacy contact information form, available HERE to Gareth Gilvary at CPNI offices by 2pm Tuesday 16 March 2021 for each pharmacy that they wish to use the SimplyBook.Me VBS. CPNI will then provide the pharmacy contact details to SimplyBook.Me to enable an account to be set up for those pharmacy(-ies) and to enable the VBS template specific to each pharmacy to be designed. Contractors who wish to take out the Group option are asked to ensure that the relevant contact details for the Group operator are also provided.

It is anticipated that there will be significant interest from the public about the availability of appointments at community pharmacies for the COVID-19 vaccination when the service commences. The use of the SimplyBook.Me  online and tailored community pharmacy VBS will enable pharmacy teams to manage the booking and appointment process in an efficient manner that should significantly reduce telephone & in-person enquiries to pharmacy staff.

ACTION

  • Contractors should login to the members section of the CPNI web-site to obtain more information on the CPNI recommended SimplyBook.Me online community pharmacy vaccine booking system HERE.
  • Contractors who wish to use the SimplyBook.Me VBS, either at an individual or group level, should complete and return the Microsoft Excel pharmacy contact form HERE and return it to ggilvary@communitypharmacyni.co.uk by 2pm Tuesday 16 March 2021.

The imminent commencement of the COVID-19 community pharmacy vaccination service is a positive development and the development of the SimplyBook.Me VBS should help pharmacy teams to manage bookings and appointments. Further specific information on the Community Pharmacy SimplyBook.Me VBS will be provided to you as the VBS is developed further, with general information on SimplyBook.Me systems available HERE.

Finally, I would like to remind Contractors who wish to provide the Community Pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination service to complete and sign the HSCB COVID CPVS 2021 Contract for each pharmacy location providing the service and ensure that it is returned to the relevant local HSCB office by Close of Play today, Monday 15 March 2021.

Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI offices should you require any additional information at this stage.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

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

Dear Colleague

In today’s update:

  1. Weekly drug alerts, shortage information and serious shortage protocols.
  2. COVID-19: Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service (COVID-CPVS).
  3. Scheme For Temporary Agri-Food Movements To Northern Ireland.
  4. Controlled Drug Declaration 2021: Now Online.
  5. Telephone Questionnaire Study: The community pharmacy workforce’s preparedness for, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic.
  6. COVID-CP Weekly Reporting Of Activity And Waste
  7. COVID-CPVS Indemnity, Remuneration And Vaccine Booking System Update

BSO ALERTS 

CPNI ALERTS 

HSCB ALERTS 

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

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

Contractor Calendar

Contractor Emails

Or report medicine shortages or pricing issues via the CPNI’s

Medicine Shortage Reporter

Many thanks, stay safe – Gareth

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

Dear Colleague

Further to the Contractor Update issued on Tuesday 9 March I write to update you in relation to the following aspects associated with the COVID Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service (COVID-CPVS).

  1. Indemnity
  2. Remuneration
  3. Service Contract
  4. CPNI recommended Vaccine Booking System

1. COVID-CPVS Indemnity

Following discussions with pharmacy indemnity providers, including NPAI and Numark, indemnity against the clinical negligence risk of COVID vaccine administration can now be added and included in your current professional insurance policy(-ies). Contractors who will provide COVID vaccination service are asked to contact your current insurance provider to arrange for this to be in place prior to commencement of the service. There will be an additional premium for this but CPNI has been liaising with HSCB in relation to this and can advise that this added cost is incorporated within the remuneration for the service, details of which are provided below.

2. COVID-CPVS Remuneration

Following discussions with HSCB I can advise that remuneration for the CPVS service is as follows;

  • £12.58 per administered dose of vaccine.
  • £700 service set-up fee.
  • £800 on completion of 1st vaccine administration.

Tiered payments applicable as follows;

  • 50-100 vaccines administered, £250 per month.
  • 101-300 vaccines administered, £500 per month.
  • 301+ vaccines administered, £1000 per month.

Payments will be only processed after completion of patient vaccination entries completed on the HSC Vaccine Management System (VMS).

3. HSCB COVID-CPVS Service Contract

Now that indemnity and remuneration arrangements have been progressed Contractors wishing to provide the service should return signed and complete the HSCB COVID-19 Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service (COVID CPVS) 2021 Contract to the local HSCB Office by close of play Monday 15 March 2021.

4. CPNI recommended online Vaccine Booking System

Further information will be provided to you on Monday 15 March 2021 in relation to the CPNI recommended online booking system that contractors may wish to use to help with the management of vaccination bookings.

I trust this is helpful.

Kind regards,

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Contractor

As you will be aware CPNI are represented on the Queen’s University Belfast Study Advisory Group within the School of Pharmacy. Recently ethical approval has been granted to the group to undertake research which would help capture the preparedness of community pharmacy and its response to the ongoing coronavirus global pandemic. 

Please find attached correspondence from researchers at the university who wish to undertake a brief telephone questionnaire with Community Pharmacists in the coming weeks as part of the study.

While participation is voluntary, CPNI would ask contractors to share this correspondence with pharmacists in your branch(es) and encourage them, when contacted, to arrange a time that suits so that they can participate in this important research. The research findings will be anonymised and will help inform planning in the event of future pandemics and public health crises. 

If you have any queries, regarding the completion of the telephone questionnaire, please contact;

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF Gerard Greene
Chief Executive

Dear Contractor

Canice Ward, Head of MRG, DH has issued a letter in respect of the annual controlled drug declaration and self-assessment.

As you know, these have been mandated since 2009 and previously were in hard copy.

From the 2021 reporting year, the form is now online.  This should be easier to complete and will allow responses to be viewed by the inspectorate without the need to visit your premises, which is to be welcomed during the pandemic period.  The form can be accessed at HERE. 

ACTION

Contractors are asked to: 

  1. Make their dispensary teams aware of the content of the letter and of the on-line form and
  2. Ensure that it is completed and returned online by 31 March 2021.

If you have any queries, regarding the completion of the questionnaire, please contact;

  • Sean Curley (02890528627) sean.curley@health-ni.gov.uk,
  • Aaron McKendry (02890 528628) aaron.mckendry@health-ni.gov.uk or
  • Michelle Keatings (02890 520230) michelle.keatings@health-ni.gov.uk.

Colleagues in CPNI will continue to assist you with these matters.

Kind regards Mike

SENT ON BEHALF OF Prof Mike Mawhinney
Head of Regulatory Affairs