Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Colleague,

The following concessionary prices have been granted for March 2020:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Amiodarone 200mg tablets	28	£2.35
Diclofenac sodium 100mg modified-release tablets	28	£11.33
Frovatriptan 2.5mg tablets	6	£10.31
Hydroxyzine 10mg tablets	84	£2.09
Imipramine 25mg tablets	28	£3.79
Irbesartan 150mg tablets	28	£5.36
Irbesartan 300mg tablets	28	£4.70
Irbesartan 300mg / Hydrochlorothiazide 12.5mg tablets	28	£4.74
Lamotrigine 100mg dispersible tablets sugar free	56	£7.49
Lymecycline 408mg capsules	28	£6.45
Memantine 10mg tablets	28	£3.44
Memantine 20mg tablets	28	£8.88
Mirtazapine 15mg tablets	28	£2.29
Mirtazapine 30mg tablets	28	£1.89
Mirtazapine 45mg tablets	28	£2.74
Nefopam 30mg tablets	90	£10.10
Nitrofurantoin 50mg tablets	28	£12.45
Oxytetracycline 250mg tablets	28	£4.79
Quinine sulfate 300mg tablets	28	£6.67
Rivastigmine 3mg capsules	28	£3.97
Sulpiride 200mg tablets	30	£6.68
Tamoxifen 20mg tablets	30	£5.46
Trihexyphenidyl 2mg tablets	84	£9.42
Venlafaxine 37.5mg tablets	56	£6.50

This is the first update of concessionary prices for March 2020.

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.

Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website www.communitypharmacyni.co.uk

Kind regards,

Katherine

SENT FOR AND BEHALF OF KATHERINE KIDD | Head of Pharmacy Development

Dear Colleague

PPE kits will be arriving in your pharmacies this week.

At this point, PPE only needs to be used if:

• you are entering a room in an emergency where an infected/possibly infected patient is isolated and
• when decontaminating a room where such a patient has been present (in this case the PPE is to protect the worker from the cleaning products being used).

PPE that has been used should be disposed of as clinical waste.

Strictly enforced arrangements for further replenishment will be in place and will be communicated to you shortly by the Department of Health (NI).

The guidance on PPE use will be kept under review as the pandemic progresses.

Kind Regards,

SENT FOR AND BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE | Chief Executive

Dear colleague

CPNI is acutely aware of the huge surge in community pharmacy activity as a result of COVID-19, patient demand and  changes to GP arrangements that were introduced last week and we know that community pharmacy teams are being stretched way beyond the normal levels of service provision.

Cathy Harrison attended the CPNI Board meeting on Thursday past (12 March) and there has been extensive and on-going activity with DoH(NI) and HSCB pharmacy leads since then to fast-track contingency measures for Community Pharmacy teams. CPNI Directors also met yesterday (15 March) and will meet again today to prioritise the urgent support that you and your staff need.

The following areas are being actively worked on and I would ask you to check your emails regularly for further advice/information/support.

• Dispensing pressures – increased volume, increased quantities of medicines prescribed, medicines supplies and shortages, managing prescription work-flow, medicine price increases and funding/cash-flow pressures.
• Specific service issues – including MDS, supervision of methadone/buprenorphine substitute prescribing patients, SOPs.
• Staff issues – increased workload on staff, COVID-19 risk factors facing pharmacy staff, staff safe-guarding mechanisms, imminent staff absenteeism due to isolation etc, back-fill options and the contingencies to maintain services and keep pharmacies open.
• Patient issues – managing patient flows in pharmacies, social distancing measures, prioritising at-risk patients, delivery of medicines to patients.
• Premises issues – demarcation zones and/or restricted access zones within pharmacies for social distancing, security of premises and staff.
• Business Continuity measures.

These are only some of the areas under active development within CPNI.  We are aiming to issue more specific interim CPNI guidance imminently and in a phased through-out the coming weeks and months.  As the COVID-19 situation develops, other aspects will come into play and we will address these with the relevant lead organisations and keep you informed.

I can assure you that the Community Pharmacy financial implications resulting from COVID-19 have been raised at the highest level within the DoH(NI) and HSCB and progressive steps are being taken within the Health Service to enable Community Pharmacy to operate in a financially stable manner throughout this very difficult period. Further information will be shared with Contractors when it becomes available in due course.

CPNI Office and Directors are available should you require any further information or assistance at this time.

Kind Regards,

SENT FOR AND BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE | Chief Executive

Dear Colleague,

I recognise the huge impact that COVID-19 and recent changes implemented this week by GP’s across NI (in relation to 56/84+ day prescribing, surgeries being closed to patients and changes to prescription ordering & collection arrangements) are having on already over-stretched pharmacy teams.

There has been on-going and frequent meetings & discussions with HSCB, DoH(NI), BMA & RCGP colleagues in relation to these critical issues. You will have received correspondence from HSCB on these matters and while I acknowledge they do not address the immediacy of the mounting problems you and your teams are facing I want to assure you that we are continuing to advocate for changes to alleviate the severity of all the issues you face.

I am in regular contact with Joe Brogan in relation to these issues and I have attached copy correspondence that has been issued by HSCB to pharmacy teams today.

I spoke again with Joe Brogan this evening and he has asked that I share the email below with you.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any additional information.

Yours sincerely,

Gerard

From: Joe Brogan
Sent: 13 March 2020 19:07

Dear Gerard

I would be grateful if you could consider sending the following out to pharmacy contractors;

Dear Colleague

We are now entering the next phase of our response to the Corona Virus. I appreciate over the past few days there have been significant challenges faced already and we will collectively work to address these.

I also know this is just the beginning of what will be a challenging time for us all. Community pharmacy is recognised as a key part of the health service response and I along with my colleagues in the Board and DoH will be doing our utmost to support community pharmacy services for our patients. We recognise the many challenges that are being faced and steps are being taken to address these.

In order to provide a structure to manage our collective response, we have agreed to convene a weekly Pharmacy COVID response group with CPNI to take forward and provide assurance in relation to service, finance and human resource issues. We will augment this with a daily conference call with CPNI to identify and address issues as they emerge.

I acknowledge and appreciate the critical work of maintaining safe dispensing of medicines that community pharmacy provides daily and we must focus on maintaining the delivery of this key objective over the coming weeks and months.

Best wishes

Joe

Joe Brogan, Head of Pharmacy and Medicines Management, HSCB

Gransha Park House, Clooney Road, Derry/Londonderry BT47 6FN

Tel: 028 95363375

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Dear Colleague,

COMMUNITY PHARMACY CONTINGENCY PLAN TO ENSURE THE SAFE SUPPLY OF MEDICINES TO PATIENTS

The developing COVID-19 pandemic will place additional pressures on all primary care HSC service providers, including GP practices and community pharmacies.

CPNI will continue to engage with key stakeholders to focus resources to ensure essential services are streamlined and can be sustained during this rapidly changing situation.

CPNI Board is aware of the changes introduced by GP practices, many of which are planning to close their receptions and potentially limiting appointments for patients. Many of the proposed changes, which vary across localities, will create undue pressure and potentially shift risk to community pharmacies.

Community pharmacies’ prime concerns are:

• Safeguarding services to patients;
• Protecting the health and wellbeing of the community pharmacy team;
• Maintaining the integrity of the medicine supply chain.

For this reason, CPNI Board is recommending that all contractors and pharmacy teams adopt the following process in relation to the dispensing service until new protocols are put in place:

CPNI Board Recommended Interim Protocol for Prescription Supply, Collection and Delivery during the COVID-19 Response Period

• 28 day dispensing of all prescriptions (regardless of prescription duration)
• Collection of prescriptions from GP practices to be arranged according to community pharmacy capacity and workforce availability, this process must be streamlined and involve no additional workload for community pharmacy
• Delivery of prescription medicines to patients may need to be limited depending on availability of community pharmacy workforce and capacity. If available, this should be offered on a risk stratified basis, with services prioritised to the most vulnerable people in our communities, including those self-isolating with no family support.

CPNI also has raised this matter with HSCB and joint correspondence from Asst Directors of Integrated Care, HSCB Joe Brogan & Margaret O’Brien is to be issued today to GP’s & Community Pharmacies.

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

Yours sincerely

SENT FOR AND BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE | Chief Executive

Dear Colleague

Serious Shortage Protocol: Important information

You will have received recently a communication from the Department of Health NI (see attached) in respect of a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) relating to fluoxetine 10mg tablets which was issued by the Department of Health England.

DHNI has confirmed that, although the SSP issued states that it applies to Northern Ireland, this is not the case.  The SSP is not operational here but may be activated at a future date.  If a decision is taken to activate the SSP at a future date, further communication will issue from the DHNI. 

Action

Contractors should:

1. Make their dispensing teams aware that this serious shortage protocol is not applicable to Northern Ireland; and

1. Access the weblink below regularly to check the status of SSPs in Northern Ireland.  This website also contains useful guidance on how to dispense under an SSP.

www.hscbusiness.hscni.net/services/3063.htm

The CPNI will continue to support and inform contractors in the event that SSPs are rolled out here.  Information can also be found on the CPNI website at this link:

SSP Guidance issued

Yours sincerely

Mike

Sent on behalf of Prof Mike Mawhinney | Head of Regulatory Affairs

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