Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Colleague
Please find correspondence HERE from SPPG Pharmacy and Medicines Management team.

SUMMARY

  • If you are planning to vaccinate a care home, please complete the e-form to assure us that plans are now in place to deliver the Spring booster programme in all Care Homes.
  • The PHA has issued correspondence to Care Home Managers, which provides details for LFD testing by visiting professionals to Care Homes.
  • Pharmacies should continue to plan vaccination clinic dates for those homes that are experiencing an outbreak. Whether a care home outbreak is declared or not, the PHA Duty Room will continue to provide advice to Care Home Managers on further actions to take.
  • Prior to the visit to a Care Home, the pharmacist clinical lead should ask the care home manager to inform them of any residents undergoing Aerosol Generating procedures.
  • A claim form is available for contractors wishing to claim eligible off-site fees for clinics
    delivered at Care Homes during April and May 2022.
  • JCVI has not included Care Home Staff as an identified cohort for the COVID-19 spring booster. However when visiting a care home to vaccinate the residents with the Spring booster, it would be possible for a community pharmacy to arrange to vaccinate the staff members who have not received their first or second primary dose or their first booster dose.
  • PHA COVID-19 vaccine toolkit has now been published HERE, which aims to support organisations in promoting the Covid-19 vaccine and increasing uptake.
  • MHRA recently provided an update reassuring on safety and that the vaccine can be used during pregnancy and breastfeeding which can be accessed HERE.

ACTION

  • Contractors are asked to review the correspondence.
  • Please complete e-form submissions as soon as you have agreed an arrangement to provide vaccinations to a Care Home.
  • Contractors are reminded if they have any queries relating to the CPVS service requiring input from a Pharmacy Adviser, they should contact their local office/adviser.
  • Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Colleague

2022 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY ELECTION CANDIDATES COMMUNITY PHARMACY VISITS

  • As part of CPNI public affairs strategy we have been engaging with election candidates, namely deputy and party leaders inviting these political representatives to visit their local community pharmacy to find out more about the valuable role the network plays.
  • These meeting have been hugely positive and shared on the candidates social media channels, these can be viewed using the links below. To date community pharmacy contractors have hosted the following visits:

I trust this update is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI offices should you require any additional information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Colleague

2021/22 £8m ADHERENCE SUPPORT PAYMENT

  • Further to Contractor Update I write to confirm that BSO will be allocating the 2021/22 £8m Adherence funding to Contractors in the BSO payment(s) that you will receive on 29 April 2022.
  • This additional payment will be identifiable in the Adjustments section of your BSO payment report(s) under the heading ‘Additional Adherence Support 2021/22’.
  • CPNI continues to work with SPPG colleagues to develop the interim service for Adherence support services for new patients being referred by Trust Pharmacists to their Community Pharmacy when the patient is being discharged. Further information will be provided to you once the interim service model is finalised. You are not expected to take on new patients until this interim service is finalised.

DEFERRAL IN THE REPAYMENT OF THE £35m ADVANCE FOR 3 MONTHS

  • SPPG has confirmed that the repayment of the £35m Advance will be paused for 3 months. No reclaim will be applied to your BSO payments in the months of April, May and June 2022.
  • CPNI continues to liaise with SPPG in relation to the arrangements that will apply thereafter.

I trust this update is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI offices should you require any additional information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
The Public Health Agency has oversight of the COVID-19 Vaccination programme in Northern Ireland and has requested that SPPG provide sufficient information to assure that all 477 RQIA registered Care Homes are paired with respective CPVS pharmacies to achieve the successful completion of the Spring COVID-19 Booster Campaign by end of May 2022.

The recent Update G12 outlined the request for the network of Moderna CPVS pharmacies to complete an e-form for each care home requiring to be vaccinated, on a weekly basis each Wednesday.

This is a REMINDER to submit an individual e-form for all of the Care Homes you have made arrangements with, to deliver vaccination clinics. Please complete e-form submissions TODAY.

From 21 April 2022, SPPG would ask that you complete the e-form as soon as you have made a pairing arrangement with a Care Home.

Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI should you require any further 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 

CPNI ALERTS 

DOH(NI) ALERTS 

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

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF 
DR. GARETH C. GILVARY
Governance & Support Pharmacist
Dear Contractor
Testing for COVID-19 and contact tracing in Northern Ireland is changing. The changes will come into effect from this evening of Friday 22 April 2022.
 
As signalled in the Department of Health (NI) Transition Plan, these changes are proportionate and necessary at this stage of the pandemic and will deliver a more targeted approach to test and trace, focusing on protecting those at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

Further details can be found HERE. Updated guidance in relation to testing and isolation for health and care workers will be issued by the Department of Health (NI) week commencing 25 April 2022.

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

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive