Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Contractor

Correspondence regarding the Living Well service has been issued by SPPG 19th January 2024 and can be accessed  here.

SUMMARY

• SPPG and PHA have issued an invite to community pharmacists that provide the Living Well service to participate in a focus group.
• The focus group will give community pharmacists an opportunity to discuss what works well, what challenges are experienced, and to give suggestions for potential improvement to the service.

ACTION

• Contractors who provide the Living Well Service should read the correspondence issued by SPPG 19th January 2024.
• Those pharmacists who wish to be involved in the focus group should confirm their attendance by completing the Microsoft Form provided by SPPG by 31st January 2024.
• Please share this information with all relevant team members.
• For any queries in relation to the Living Well Community Pharmacy service, please contact Pharmacy Adviser, katie.blair@hscni.net.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

CPVS Update eleven issued on 18th January 2024 relating to the vaccination service.

SUMMARY

The following groups have been added to the list of eligible cohorts for the remaining part of the 2023/24 seasonal flu vaccination programme

• all patients aged 50-64 years
• all health and social care workers

Please read the letter issued 17.1.23 by the DoH, and the letter issued 17.1.23 by PHA for further information

ACTION

• Contractors should review the CPVS update and share the information with relevant members of the pharmacy team. 
• Please refer to the updated PGD which is available on the BSO website.
• Vaccine quotas have increased to allow vaccination of these additional cohorts. Please continue to order stock once your current stock is exhausted.

Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI for any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

Ordering of the LFD tests will resume from Wednesday 17th January 2024

SUMMARY

• Correspondencehas been issued by SPPG regarding the Lateral Flow Device Distribution Service 18th January 2024.
• The ordering system for Pharmacy Collect NI LFD tests is restarting.
• A new order form is available on the BSO website and can be accessed here.

ACTION

• Contractors should read and review the correspondencereceived from SPPG regarding the LFD Distribution Service.
• Any supply requests for LFD tests should be made using the new order form which is available on the BSO website here.
• Please share this information with all relevant team members

Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI for any further assistance.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

Further to contractor update CU#231214B on the application process for the NICPLD Independent Prescriber course, and contractor updates CU#231222A and CU#240103A regarding the CPNI DPP survey, a number of further updates are provided below.

SUMMARY

• CPNI has been made aware that updated guidance documents and an instructional video on the NICPLD IP training application process have now been added to the NICPLD website.
• These resources may be helpful to community pharmacists who are planning to apply during the application window: Monday 22 January 2024, with a closing date of Monday 26 February 2024 at midnight.
• In response to early reports from some community pharmacists regarding challenges in relation to obtaining a DPP for IP training, CPNI undertook a survey to gather further information.
• The survey has now been extended to 19 January 2024.

ACTION

Contractors are advised to:

• Note the updated information provided on the NICPLD website.
• Ask all community pharmacist employees who are considering applying for the IP course to complete the CPNI survey as soon as possible, and no later than 19 January 2024.

Please contact a member of the CPNI team should you have any queries.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor

Correspondence regarding the Keep Antibiotics Working Survey has been issued by SPPG 17th January 2024 and can be accessed  here.

SUMMARY

• Due to the omission of the closure time of the Keep Antibiotics Working survey, it has been agreed with SPPG to re-open the survey on Thursday 18th January 2024 from 9am to 6pm
• All future surveys will close at 6pm on the date stated.

ACTION

• Contractors who provide the Living Well Service and are yet to complete the survey for Keep Antibiotics Working can access the survey here on 18th January 9am-6pm.
• In the event that a survey is not completed, SPPG may seek to recover all, or part of, the associated funding via an adjustment to the pharmacy’s BSO payment account.
• Please share this information with all relevant team members.

Kind regards

Dear Contractor,

SPPG issued a letter on 15th January 2024 providing details of the Phased Introduction of Revised Discounting Arrangements that DoH(NI) will apply to prescriptions dispensed from January 2024.

In summary:

• the following clawback rates will be introduced:
  • Discount Scale 1: Generic medicines (excluding those granted a concessionary price) – 18.48%
  • Discount Scale 2: Appliances – 10.39%
  • Discount Scale 3: Branded medicines (plus those medicines granted a concessionary price, for the month in which the concessionary price applies) – 5.27%

• DoH(NI) will use a phased approach to introduce the new clawback arrangements using both the new rates (referred to above) and the existing clawback arrangements on qualifying medicines and appliances, with the total clawback being calculated and deducted by BSO according to the following ratios:
  • Jan-Mar’24: 15% using the New rates and 85% using the Existing clawback arrangements.
  • Apr-June’24: 30% New and 70% Existing.
  • July-Sept’24: 50% New and 50% Existing.
  • Oct-Dec’24: 70% New and 30% Existing.
  • Jan-Mar’25: 85% New and 15% Existing.
  • April’25 onwards: 100% New and 0% Existing.

This phased approach will be applied to prescriptions dispensed from January 2024 onwards. Under the new arrangements the total amount that will be deducted for each pharmacy will change, by varying amounts, with some pharmacies seeing an increase in the amount deducted and others seeing a reduction.

At this stage you will not have the relevant drug and appliances spend data associated with your pharmacy(-ies) to calculate the impact of the changes should you need to do this for business planning purposes.  If you require this, then CPNI recommends that you contact either SPPG or BSO and ask that they retrospectively re-model the discount that was deducted for the pharmacy(-ies) you operated in the 18-month period from June 2022 – November 2023 according to the new clawback rates and the phased approach outlined above.  This will enable you to see the impact had the new arrangements been applied during that period and it will provide you with an indicative trend for the clawback going forward.

SPPG acknowledges that CPNI remains opposed to the new discount clawback arrangements within the context of the current level of funding and Drug Tariff arrangements applicable to community pharmacy service provision in Northern Ireland.  There are numerous reasons for CPNI’s opposition to the new clawback arrangements and these include the recent announcement in Scotland that the clawback being applied to qualifying branded medicines has been reduced to 1.79%, from December 2023, with the clawback on qualifying generic medicines remaining at 0%.

CPNI appreciates that the information contained within the SPPG letter, as presented, is complex and accordingly further information and clarification will be provided on this and other funding and contractual aspects at a contractor meeting to be arranged in the coming weeks.

Yours sincerely,