Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Colleague

The following concessionary prices have been granted for April 2021:

Drug Pack SizePrice
Chlorpromazine 50mg tablets28£16.50
Eplerenone 25mg tablets28£12.00
Etoricoxib 60mg tablets28£16.24
Lamotrigine 100mg tablets56£5.14
Lamotrigine 50mg tablets56£4.50
Olmesartan medoxomil 10mg tablets28£8.85
Pregabalin 100mg capsules84£6.99
Pregabalin 50mg capsules84£6.28
Pregabalin 75mg capsules56£5.22
Sulfasalazine 500mg gastro-resistant tablets112£21.20
Sulfasalazine 500mg tablets112£18.80
Trimethoprim 50mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free100ml£12.50
Zonisamide 100mg capsules56£52.49

This is the 1st update of concessionary prices for April 2021.

Concessionary prices will be paid against the usual code, no additional endorsements are needed.

Concessionary prices may be granted up until the end of the month so CPNI will notify you of any further concessionary prices as and when they are agreed.

Please continue to notify CPNI of any pricing issues you are experiencing via our new Medicine Shortage Reporter.

Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kinds regards, stay safe – Gareth

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

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

Dear Colleague

In today’s update:

  1. Weekly drug alerts, shortages information and ongoing serious shortage protocols.
  2. Reminder of updates to eligible cohorts and JCVI guidance.
  3. HSCB Commissioned Community Pharmacy Home Delivery Service Survey.
  4. Updated User Guide FAO of Pharmacies using the SimplyBook.Me VBS.
  5. COVID-19 therapeutic alert from DOH(NI).
  6. COVID-CPVS Updates; refrigerator failure and March payments.

BSO ALERTS 

CPNI ALERTS 

DoH ALERTS 

HSCB ALERTS 

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

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s

Contractor Calendar

Contractor Emails

Or report medicine shortages or pricing issues via the CPNI’s

Medicine Shortage Reporter

Many thanks, stay safe – Gareth

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

Dear Colleague

Please find below correspondence from HSCB Pharmacy & Medicines Management team.

The latest Community Pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination figures can be viewed at the COVIDcare dashboard. To date community pharmacies have vaccinated over 16,300 patients – thank you to everyone involved!

Key Points

  • Waste Report – reminder that the waste report and DNA figures must be completed for “Week 3 – 12 April to 18 April” using the online form, even if it is a nil report. This is a mandatory requirement and those who have not submitted a report will be contacted. The report can be accessed at Waste Report and must be submitted by Monday 19 April at 4pm. THIS MUST BE COMPLETED BY ALL CONTRACTORS. IF YOU ARE YET TO PLACE AN ORDER OR USE ANY STOCK PLEASE SUBMIT A NIL REPORT. If you are able to get a 9th dose from a vial but do not use it, this is not classed as waste and should not be included in your report. 
  • Eligible patients – reminder that only patients from eligible cohorts should be vaccinated. Any reserve lists held by community pharmacies must only include patients that are included in an eligible cohort. Information on eligible cohorts available HERE.
  • Update 14 issued on the 8 April 2021 provided notification on the recent cohort changes and JCVI statement regarding 18-29 year olds and the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Please ensure you are aware of the recent changes in eligible cohorts. 
  • VMS Matching – if a patient doesn’t match on VMS do not proceed to vaccinate
    • Although there is a temporary override facility on the system this should not be used. Unmatched records will not be paid.
    • If a patient’s VMS status indicates that they have already been vaccinated at another centre, but the patient informs you that they have not been vaccinated – do not vaccinate the patient.
    • If you are having problems accessing VMS, please contact your local office.
  • Patient who resides in Republic of Ireland (ROI) – a number of pharmacies have had requests for vaccination from patients who reside in ROI. Some patients who reside in ROI may be eligible for vaccination in Northern Ireland, for example a patient who works in NI and is registered with a GP practice in NI. Despite a patient’s eligibility for vaccination in NI, community pharmacists must be able to match a patient on VMS in order to vaccinate that patient. In some circumstances an eligible patient who resides in ROI may not match on VMS. In this situation you should advise the patient that whilst they may be eligible for vaccination in NI, that they are not able to access their vaccine via the community pharmacy service. The patient should be advised to contact their GP practice (or to register with a GP practice if eligible). 
  • Cold-chain – Please ensure you have reviewed your cold chain procedures to ensure there are adequate measures in place to prevent any waste from occurring as per update letter 16.
  • Queries: From day to day, information on the service has been changing very rapidly. Therefore it is really important that you read all the update letters as soon as possible. They have all been date marked to make it easier to identify the recent  updates. Before contacting your local HSCB office, please refer to:
    • HERE for all the latest information.
    • Service FAQs **UPDATED AND NEW from 9 APRIL 2021**  at Service FAQs  ** These are not for public viewing and are password protected** Password: CPVS001! 
    • Support on VMS – please refer to the FAQs available at VMS FAQs.
  • Please do not contact individual HSCB staff directly unless told to do so. Please contact your local HSCB office who will triage your query and send to the appropriate contact.
  • Social Media Resources “Find out your H&C number”: A number of pharmacies have received calls from patients wanting to know how to find out their H&C number. Below are a number of social media links to a video about how to find your health and care number.
  • You may find these helpful to share via your social media platforms:

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF 
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Colleague

I write to provide updated information to assist contractors and pharmacy team members using the SimplyBook.Me (SBM) Vaccine Booking Systems (VBS).

The SBM COVID-19 Vaccine Booking Platform Updated User Guide and Updated Setup Guide contain all the key information that you will require and your pharmacy staff involved in the set-up and maintenance of your SBM VBS.

The User Guide has been updated and now includes guidance on how to i) cancel bookings and ii) edit questions on the booking form. All Pharmacy staff involved in the set-up and on-going use of the SBM VBS should be familiar with the contents of the manual and the SBM VBS platform.

CPNI will continue to provide you with resources and assistance in relation to the Community Pharmacy COIVID Vaccination Service and the SimplyBook.Me Vaccine Booking system.

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

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Colleague

Following discussions with CPNI, HSCB commissioned a Home Delivery Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic to deliver prescribed items to specified, eligible patients who, due to their medical condition, could not present in the pharmacy and where no other person is able to collect the item from the pharmacy and deliver it to the patient.

The service began on 1 September 2020, and having been in place for some 9 months HSCB is minded to stand down the commissioned delivery service in the near future CPNI notes the importance of this service to patients and in order to obtain critical information for consideration to be given in respect of continuing the delivery service. It has been agreed that an online survey should be undertaken by Contractors and pharmacists to collect evidence of service value.

The link to the survey can be found HERE. It takes approximately 5 mins to complete and will close on 30 April 2021. We would encourage you to give the questions within the survey your full consideration, and we ask that you 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 Colleague

As per correspondence from Kathryn Turner, Pharmacy Lead, HSCB and CPNI Contractor Update on 8 April 2021.

From 8 April 2021, individuals aged 18-29 years who do not have an underlying medical condition including HSCWs will not be eligible for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine under the community pharmacy service.

It is very important that everyone who has already had their first dose of the 
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine gets their second dose of the same vaccine, 
irrespective of age. The only exception is for the very small number of people 
who experienced blood clots with low platelet counts following their first dose.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive