Archives: Contractor Email

For the attention of all community pharmacies who are contracted to provide the Pharmacy First Sore Throat Service Winter 24/25

Dear Contractor

• SPPG have issued correspondence on 27 May 2025 regarding the Pharmacy First Sore Throat Service Winter 2024/25.
• SPPG have confirmed that the service will be further extended until 31 August 2025.
• Pharmacies may wish to continue to promote the service on social media platforms using the resources available on the BSO website, and they may wish to let local GP surgeries know of the extension.

Please contact your Pharmacy Advisor at SPPG offices if you have any further queries.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

Correspondence was issued by SPPG on 3 April 2025 regarding the Community Pharmacy Stop Smoking Service.

SUMMARY

• The service contract has been revised and all service providers are required to submit acceptance of the new contract for the service from 1 April 2025 via MS forms using the following link.
• SPPG have requested that contracts which were not returned by the initial deadline (15 April 2025) are now returned as soon as possible.
• If a contractor does not currently provide the Stop Smoking Service but wishes to do so, they are requested to contact the PHA for more information.
• The service specification, quality standards, and other relevant information can be found on the BSO website.
• The contractor must ensure all staff are trained and competent to deliver the service in line with the service specification, and must ensure they adhere to Appendix A: Capacities and responsibilities in respect of the processing of personal data.
• The service is available for the whole population, with a particular focus on three priority groups as set out in the DoH ‘Ten year tobacco control strategy for Northern Ireland‘:
  • Children and young people
  • Pregnant women and their partners who smoke
  • Disadvantaged people.
• Please note, support for vapers who wish to stop is not part of the service specification but is currently under review.
• The Elite system is the main data collection tool for the community pharmacy Stop Smoking Service and it is essential that all clients accessing the service are recorded.
  • The required monitoring information for each patient should be recorded on Elite in a timely manner.
• The fees paid for service provision are processed by BSO based on entry of a patient record on to the Elite system.
• NRT can only be provided on a pharmacy voucher (PV1) for patients enrolled in the service and recorded on to Elite.
  • An assurance exercise in 2024 identified some pharmacy voucher claims for patients who were not recorded on the Elite system.
  • Follow-up with the affected pharmacies will occur over the coming weeks.
• There are no reimbursement arrangements in place for NRT supplied on a HS21 by IP pharmacists through the Stop Smoking Service as this is not included in the service specification currently.

ACTION

Contractors are asked to:

• Review the SPPG correspondence issued on 3 April 2025 regarding the Stop Smoking Service and share with all relevant members of the pharmacy team.
• If not already completed, return a contract to SPPG as soon as possible.

If you have any queries in relation to this correspondence, please contact PHATobaccoAdmin@hscni.net.

Kind regards

This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams.

CPNI ALERTS

• Second Concessionary Prices – May 2025 23 May 2025
• Recent cyber attacks in the retail sector 21 May 2025
• First Concessionary Prices – May 2025 19 May 2025
• FAO FTY 2025/2026 Providers – ES Declaration Deadline 19 May 2025

DOH(NI) ALERTS

• HSS(MD)17/2025 – END OF THE 2024/25 INFLUENZA SEASON AND RELATED ISSUES 19 May 2025

BSO ALERTS

• Weekly Drug Alerts are available here.
  • MPS 3378 MMS 2249 – Medicines Recall – Mercaptopurine 50mg Tablets  22 May 2025
  • MPS 3374 MMS 2247 – Medicines Recall – ChloraPrep Clear 1ml Applicator 19 May 2025
• Weekly Shortages Information is available here.
  • Tolterodine 2mg and 4mg Modified-Release Capsules 21 May 2025
  • Phenobarbital 15mg/5ml Elixir 21 May 2025
• Serious Shortage Protocols are available here.

Daffodil Standards Northern Ireland

Reminder: Community Pharmacies across Northern Ireland can now sign up to the Daffodil Standards for palliative and end of life care.

The Daffodil Standards are a joint initiative between the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Marie Curie – Northern Ireland and provide a framework for pharmacy teams to use to build on the high standard of care already provided to palliative care patients and their families.

An ECHO session regarding palliative care and the Daffodil Standards was provided on 29 April 2025.  For those unable to attend, a recording of the session can be viewed on the ECHO moodle website here.

More information on how pharmacy teams can sign up to the Standards is available here.

SPPG also recently issued correspondence to community pharmacists regarding anticipatory prescribing for palliative and end of life care patients.  This can be viewed here.

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

Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via CPNI’s Medicine Pricing/Supply Reporter and Situation Reporter.

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

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

The second update of concessionary prices were granted today for May 2025:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Buprenorphine 2mg sublingual tablets sugar free	7	£2.73
Buprenorphine 8mg sublingual tablets sugar free	7	£10.35
Co-codamol 30mg/500mg effervescent tablets	32	£2.41
Co-codamol 30mg/500mg effervescent tablets	100	£7.52
Codeine 15mg/5ml linctus sugar free	200	£9.06
Duloxetine 60mg gastro-resistant capsules	28	£2.12
Exemestane 25mg tablets	30	£15.33
Febuxostat 80mg tablets	28	£5.93
Fenofibrate micronised 160mg tablets	28	£2.90
Imipramine 10mg tablets	28	£2.70
Imipramine 25mg tablets	28	£2.17
Isosorbide mononitrate 10mg tablets	56	£2.09
Lactulose 3.1-3.7g/5ml oral solution	500	£5.58
Latanoprost 50micrograms/ml eye drops	2.5	£1.86
Lofepramine 70mg tablets	56	£24.95
Memantine 10mg/ml oral solution sugar free	50	£15.29
Metronidazole 200mg tablets	21	£2.00
Metronidazole 400mg tablets	21	£1.50
Modafinil 100mg tablets	30	£2.08
Morphine sulfate 10mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules	10	£3.83
Naftidrofuryl 100mg capsules	84	£10.70
Nefopam 30mg tablets	90	£3.89
Nortriptyline 10mg tablets	100	£4.23
Nortriptyline 25mg tablets	100	£3.36
Paracetamol 500mg effervescent tablets	100	£5.43
Pioglitazone 15mg tablets	28	£3.01
Pioglitazone 30mg tablets	28	£9.45
Prochlorperazine 3mg buccal tablets	50	£18.05
Telmisartan 40mg tablets	28	£4.60
Trihexyphenidyl 2mg tablets	84	£14.11
Trihexyphenidyl 5mg tablets	84	£13.68
Trimethoprim 200mg tablets	6	£1.85
Trimethoprim 200mg tablets	14	£4.31
Trimethoprim 50mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free	100	£6.38
Vardenafil 20mg tablets	4	£18.76
Water for injections 10ml ampoules	10	£2.75
Betamethasone 500microgram soluble tablets sugar free	100	£27.95
Propantheline bromide 15mg tablets	112	£104.49
Risperidone 500microgram orodispersible tablets sugar free	28	£7.34
Venlafaxine 300mg modified-release tablets	30	£48.48

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 Medicine Pricing/Supply Reporter.

Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

Attached is a link to an article from Neighbourhood Retailer (Penton Media Group) which details the impact of recent cyber attacks on two well known high street names. CPNI has a range of contractor updates available on the CPNI website highlighting the measures that should be taken to avoid similar incidents happening in your pharmacy.

Action

Contractors are asked to:

• Be aware of the attached link and alert their pharmacy teams to the potential threats; and
• Read the guidance on cyber security which is available on the CPNI Cyber Protect webpage HERE.

Kind regards

Mike

SENT ON BEHALF OF
PROF MIKE MAWHINNEY
Head of Regulatory Affairs

Dear Colleague

The first update of concessionary prices were granted today for May 2025:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Alendronic acid 70mg tablets	4	£1.06
Alfuzosin 2.5mg tablets	60	£4.25
Amiodarone 200mg tablets	28	£2.27
Carbocisteine 375mg capsules	120	£3.06
Clarithromycin 125mg/5ml oral suspension	70	£6.30
Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml oral suspension	70	£10.52
Cyclizine 50mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules	5	£4.46
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules	30	£2.99
Erythromycin 250mg gastro-resistant tablets	28	£5.22
Isosorbide mononitrate 20mg tablets	56	£3.75
Isosorbide mononitrate 40mg tablets	56	£5.93
Lercanidipine 10mg tablets	28	£2.19
Lercanidipine 20mg tablets	28	£3.27
Letrozole 2.5mg tablets	28	£4.18
Methocarbamol 750mg tablets	100	£7.16
Methylphenidate 10mg tablets	30	£4.01
Methylphenidate 5mg tablets	30	£7.80
Mometasone 0.1% cream	30	£4.03
Mometasone 0.1% ointment	100	£12.44
Mometasone 0.1% ointment	30	£4.32
Mycophenolate mofetil 500mg tablets	50	£6.33
Oxybutynin 2.5mg tablets	56	£1.45
Oxybutynin 5mg tablets	56	£3.50
Oxycodone 5mg/5ml oral solution sugar free	250	£9.22
Pioglitazone 45mg tablets	28	£29.98
Prucalopride 2mg tablets	28	£10.35
Rizatriptan 10mg orodispersible tablets sugar free	3	£6.03
Sitagliptin 25mg tablets	28	£1.80
Sitagliptin 50mg tablets	28	£1.83
Tacrolimus 0.1% ointment	30	£25.92
Tacrolimus 0.1% ointment	60	£47.28
Tadalafil 5mg tablets	28	£4.80
Trimethoprim 100mg tablets	28	£1.06
Trospium chloride 20mg tablets	60	£20.47
Warfarin 1mg tablets	28	£1.05

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 Medicine Pricing/Supply Reporter.

Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind regards