Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Contractor,

This is a reminder that the Community Pharmacy Daily Interventions Survey STARTS TOMORROW.  The purpose of this survey is to record the breadth of non-commissioned activity taking place in pharmacies, including patient presentations, referrals and phone call consultations.  The data collected will provide robust evidence to demonstrate the important contribution of community pharmacy, highlight unmet needs, and support future funding and service development discussions.  CPNI hope to share evidence from this survey with MLAs at the next All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy; this meeting is to provide a wider understanding of the role of community pharmacy teams, highlighting the extent and range of ‘unseen interventions’.

Examples of interventions you may wish to record include:

  1. A patient with a sore back presents: you recommend anti-inflammatories and an ice pack, preventing the need to see another healthcare professional.
  2. A patient with ringworm presents: you supply an antifungal cream, preventing a GP consultation.
  3. Hospital pharmacist calls the pharmacy to speak to the pharmacist regarding a medication reconciliation for a patient.

These types of interactions happen every day in community pharmacy and are exactly the kind of interventions this survey aims to capture.

Your participation is essential to ensure that this survey reflects the reality of practice and the pressures faced by contractors.  Please ensure that intervention logs are completed daily over the survey week and collated into the master form for submission.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to showcasing the value of community pharmacy.

Kind regards,

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
For the attention of Community Pharmacies providing the Autumn 2025 Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service (CPVS)
Dear Contractor
COVID-19: PGD Published

Flu: PGD and Vaccination Protocol Published

The COVID-19 PGD, Flu PGD and Flu Vaccination Protocol for the Autumn 2025 programme have now been uploaded to the CPVS page of the BSO website and will be valid from 6th October 2025.
Reminder: Collaborative Forum for Community Pharmacy Webinar Tonight 7.30pm (Tuesday 23rd September 2025)

Topic: Update on the Autumn Vaccination Programme and Living Well TARGET Checklist Brief Intervention Pilot

To register please click here.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear colleague,

Community Pharmacies recently received a letter signed by Department of Health, Pharmacy Forum NI and CPNI leads encouraging community pharmacies to sign up to the Marie Curie Daffodil Standards.

The recent Palliative Care week highlighted the important role community pharmacy teams play in providing end of life care. A wide range of engagement occurred across the week including MLA visits to local pharmacies, press coverage and social media activity. It was also an opportunity to highlight the Marie Curie Daffodil Standards for Community Pharmacy and the role this initiative plays in supporting local pharmacies providing palliative care provision.

Launched in March 2025 as a joint initiative between the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Marie Curie, the Daffodil Standards are supported by the Department of Health, Pharmacy Forum NI and CPNI and aim to build on the high level of care already provided to palliative care patients and their families by community pharmacy teams.

The feedback from those signed up to the initiative has been positive, with pharmacists commenting that they would encourage pharmacy teams to get involved, as by doing so they will get additional information and support to help build their confidence in providing palliative care.  Local pharmacists have shared some of the benefits in adopting the Daffodil Standards in this short clip.

I would encourage pharmacy teams to find out more about the Daffodil Standards and how they could further support the highly respected care they provide to patients and families living with a terminal illness in their communities.

Kind regards,

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
SPPG have issued correspondence to community pharmacy contractors providing further clarification regarding changes to payment methodology for adherence support funding.  A letter has also been issued to GP practices to address some issues that have arisen in relation to instalment dispensing instructions and endorsements on prescriptions.

SUMMARY

Further to correspondence of 23rd July 2025, the letter clarifies that whilst the separate monthly payment in relation to adherence has now ceased, this funding has not been withdrawn.  Instead, this funding is now incorporated into the increased dispensing fees.  The letter also covers some key points:

  • Provision of adherence support is not linked to Instalment Dispensing Endorsement.  Community pharmacies must not ask GP practices to endorse ‘Dispense Weekly’ on prescriptions for new patients, for the purpose of adherence support.
  • Legacy patients should not have instalment dispensing instructions removed unless they have been reviewed on an individual patient basis and the prescriber is satisfied that removing the legacy instructions poses no risk to the patient.
  • GP annotations such as “compliance aid”, “blister pack” or “MDS” are not an instruction to ‘dispense weekly’ and cannot be coded as such.  These annotations are not a prescriber direction for instalment dispensing and should not be used as a method for requesting adherence support from a community pharmacy.
  • The Global Sum is a finite budget, with ID and OD fees based on projected volumes of activity in 2025/26.  The activity/expenditure will continue to be monitored and the longstanding process will remain in place i.e. in the event of a projected underpayment, a balancing payment will be made to contractors, or equally, in the event of a projected overpayment, fees will be reduced or recovery of funding will take place.

ACTION

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
**FAO LIVING WELL PHARMACIES ONLY**
Dear Contractor
SPPG have issued correspondence on 22 September 2025 regarding the Living Well Service.

SUMMARY

  • The ‘Stay well this winter’ campaign will commence on 1 October 2025 and will run for two months.
  • The campaign aims to help the public prepare for the winter months by encouraging them to take actions to protect their health.
  • The campaign will include a brief intervention service based on the TARGET Antibiotic Checklist.  Further details are available in the letter and the Service Specification and contract details are available here.
  • The posters, leaflets and campaign briefing for ‘Stay well this winter’ will be delivered by 25 September 2025, unless arranged otherwise.
  • If you have not received your campaign resource pack by 25 September 2025, please email reception.pha@hscni.net by no later than 8 October 2025 using the subject heading “LIVING WELL PHARMACY CAMPAIGN”. Note: This is for replacement and not additional supplies as resources for the campaign are limited.
  • Living Well posters should be displayed in at least one window unit of the pharmacy. Rotation of the supplied posters can occur over the campaign period.
  • PHA will release social media posts to support the campaign. Community pharmacies can share these on their social media channels, such as Facebook, X and Instagram, using the hashtags #LivingWell and #StayWellThisWinter
  • Downloadable resources are available at https://bso.hscni.net/living-well.
  • Training resources for this campaign are detailed in the campaign briefing.
  • A requirement for the Living Well service is to complete an online survey for each campaign. Further information on this can be found in the letter.
  • Living Well survey opening and closing dates have been added to the BSO 2025 calendar provided to all contractors.
  • Reminder: The third campaign for 25/26 ‘Move more, feel better‘ will finish on 30 September 2025.  The survey for “Move more, feel better” will open 6 October 2025 at 9am and will close 3 November 2025 at 6pm.

ACTION

  • Contractors are asked to read the correspondence issued by SPPG on 22 September 2025 regarding the Living Well Service and share with all relevant members of the team.
  • Contractors wishing to participate in the TARGET brief intervention service are asked to review the Service Specification and Contract requirements available here.

Please contact CPNI offices if you have any questions in relation to this correspondence.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams.

CPNI ALERTS

DOH(NI) ALERTS

BSO ALERTS

MHRA UPDATE

Versus Arthritis NI

CPNI has been contacted by Versus Arthritis NI regarding a range of free resources available online and in-person for patients with arthritis, chronic pain, and MSK Conditions.  Resources include exercise classes, workshops, peer support groups, and days out.  Further information, and booking is available by email: niservices@versusarthritis.org or phone: 028 9078 2940.

Community pharmacies, including those participating in the current Living Well campaign “Move more, feel better”, may wish to make patients aware of the free Versus Arthritis Chi Mi classes which are described in the flyer attached and can be booked online.

An information leaflet for Health Professionals is available here.

Extended Call for Pharmacy Technicians to Input into the Pharmacy Technician Regulation Project

The DoH Pharmacy Technician Regulation Project Group has extended the closing date for expressions of interest from Pharmacy Technicians to get involved and input into the development of a future career pathway for Pharmacy Technicians in all sectors in NI.  The EOI will remain open until Wednesday 15 October 2025.

The majority of Technicians who have come forward to date are based in the Hospital sector, and therefore the project group would particularly welcome the involvement of more Community Pharmacy Technicians at all levels, such as trainee, newly qualified, experienced and those who work in specialist areas such as management and robotics.

The QR code for signing up and further details are included in the attached flyer.

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

SENT ON BEHALF OF
Gerard Greene
Chief Executive