Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Contractor,
 
Contractors were notified on 1 December 2022 of correspondence received from the Pharmaceutical Society NI (PSNI) on 30 November 2022 in respect of changes to the responsibilities of Responsible and Superintendent Pharmacists, some of which came into effect on 1 December 2022.

ACTION

Contractors are advised to:

  • Read the attached correspondence, note the changes coming in with immediate effect and take any appropriate action.
  • Should contractors have queries on these changes which they would like to be addressed in the FAQ document referred to in the Registrar’s letter, please email these to Mike and Ennis so that they can be collated and forwarded to PSNI.

Any immediate queries on these changes should be raised directly with the Registrar, PSNI via the contact information given in the attachment.

Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require further information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF 
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
Dear Contractor,
Further to the contractor update on 20 December 2022 I write to update you as follows:
  • CPNI has met with DoH and SPPG officials to progress several aspects associated with Adherence Service provision in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This includes on-going work to finalise the service specifications for commissioned adherence services in 2023/24 and to undertake modelling work for budgeting and remuneration of the new services that will be commissioned.
  • The additional £10.976m for Adherence services in 2022/23 will be paid to contractors in this financial year. SPPG will provide CPNI with details of when BSO will process these payments to contractors; CPNI will advise contractors accordingly.

CPNI has drafted guidance HERE to assist Contractors and staff in relation to the resumption of service elements included in last December’s Contractor Actions. You may wish to share the guidance document with your pharmacists and relevant pharmacy staff.
 
These are on-going and evolving matters; SPPG and CPNI will continue to provide updates to you over the coming days and weeks.

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

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.

BSO ALERTS

  • Weekly Drug Alerts are available here.
  • Weekly Shortages Information is available here.
  • Serious Shortage Protocols are available here.

CPNI ALERTS

DOH(NI) ALERTS

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s Contractor Calendar and Contractor Emails.
Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via the CPNI’s Medicine Shortage Reporter and Situation Reporter.
Please bring this to the attention of your pharmacy team(s).

Kind regards

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

Dear Contractor

You can take some simple steps to protect your business against online security threats. Having good cyber security measures in place will help protect your cash flow, your customer data and your reputation.

A full range of guidance and support can be found on the National Cyber Security Centre website. Some of the key pieces of advice are outlined below.

Cyber Aware offers simple advice to help small businesses stay safe online.

Cyber Action Plan offers sole traders and small businesses a simple, personalised ‘to do’ list to help protect your business.

The Small Business Guide shows how to improve cyber security within your organisation quickly, easily and at low cost.

Free Online Training – Top Tips for Staff This online learning module helps you and your staff understand why cyber security is important and shows how to take practical steps to protect against fraud and cyber crime. It’s totally free, easy-to-use and takes less than 30 minutes to complete.

Small Business Guide to Response and Recovery helps small to medium sized organisations prepare their response to, and plan their recovery from, a cyber incident.

Cyber Essentials shows you how to put technical measures in place to protect your business against the most common internet threats.

ACTION

Contractors are advised to:

  • Note the guidance available above and
  • To continue to review and improve their cyber security.

Don’t delay – take action to protect your business now.  Further information can be accessed via the New Cyber Protect webpage HERE.

Kind regards – Mike

SENT ON BEHALF OF
PROF MIKE MAWHINNEY
Head of Regulatory Affairs

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

BSO ALERTS

CPNI ALERTS

DOH(NI) ALERTS

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s Contractor Calendar and Contractor Emails.
Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via the CPNI’s Medicine Shortage Reporter and Situation Reporter.
Please bring this to the attention of your pharmacy team(s).

Kind regards

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

Dear Contractor

There are a number of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) currently active in Northern Ireland, all of which relate to phenoxymethylpenicillin, various strengths and formulations. The SSPs are available to view on the BSO website and all contractors should ensure that relevant staff, including locums, are aware of the detail of these SSPs (currently active until 31 January 2023). Further SSP guidance including a FAQ document is also available on the BSO website.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has produced a one page illustration HERE of the SSP supply options for antibiotics. This may be subject to updates and teams are advised to refer to the online resource for the most recent version.

Since SSPs were first introduced in Northern Ireland contractors have received a monthly SSP payment. This is stated in the “Adjustments” section of the monthly BSO payment report.

Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further advice.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive