For the attention of Community Pharmacies providing the Spring 2025 COVID-19 Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service
Dear Contractor
SPPG have issued correspondence on 3 April 2025 relating to the COVID-19 Spring 2025 Vaccination Programme.
The Patient Group Direction (PGD) for the Spring 2025 COVID-19 vaccine has been uploaded onto the BSO website.
Contractors are asked to share this information with all relevant staff members.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
Correspondence has been issued by SPPG on 3 April 2025 regarding the Community Pharmacy Stop Smoking Service.
SUMMARY
The service contract has been revised and all service providers are required to submit acceptance of the new contract for the service from 1 April 2025 via MS forms using the following link.
SPPG have requested the contract to be returned by 15 April 2025.
If a contractor does not currently provide the Stop Smoking Service but wishes to do so, they are requested to contact the PHA for more information.
The service specification, quality standards, and other relevant information can be found on the BSO website.
Please note, support for vapers who wish to stop is not part of the service specification but is currently under review.
The Elite system is the main data collection tool for the community pharmacy Stop Smoking Service and it is essential that all clients accessing the service are recorded.
The required monitoring information for each patient should be recorded on Elite in a timely manner.
The fees paid for service provision are processed by BSO based on entry of a patient record on to the Elite system.
NRT can only be provided on a pharmacy voucher (PV1) for patients enrolled in the service and recorded on to Elite.
An assurance exercise in 2024 identified some pharmacy voucher claims for patients who were not recorded on the Elite system.
Follow-up with the affected pharmacies will occur over the coming weeks.
There are no reimbursement arrangements in place for NRT supplied on a HS21 by IP pharmacists through the Stop Smoking Service as this is not included in the service specification currently.
ACTION
Contractors are asked to:
Review the SPPG correspondence issued on 3 April 2025 regarding the Stop Smoking Service and share with all relevant members of the pharmacy team.
The CPNI EL survey provides contractors with an opportunity to give their views on what is working well with EL in community pharmacy, and what improvements may be helpful.
NICPLD has indicated that EL feedback will be used to inform a review of the programme and the development of an ongoing EL strategy.
EL queries can be sent to the NICPLD programme lead Helen Hirst by emailing h.hirst@qub.ac.uk. Alternatively, should you wish to speak to a member of the CPNI team please feel free to email Ennis.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
CPNI issued contractor updates on 10 March 2025 and 24 March 2025 regarding an NICPLD pilot to support community pharmacist access to Independent Prescriber (IP) training. The closing date for community pharmacist IP applications is 15 April 2025.
SUMMARY
In recognition of the difficulties faced by community pharmacists in securing a DPP, an NICPLD pilot is underway in which funding of £1500 is available for up to 50 eligible DPPs who agree to support a community pharmacist.
Community pharmacists who wish to apply for the NICPLD Independent Prescribing (IP) course can submit applications up to 15 April 2025.
Note: NICPLD has indicated that there are still spaces available for community pharmacists on the IP course and they have a list of DPPs who are willing to support a community pharmacist trainee under the pilot scheme.
Community pharmacists who have organised their own DPP (as opposed to being matched by NICPLD) can also access the funding for their DPP.
The pilot funding will only be available for those commencing training in August 2025.
A recorded webinar for prospective applicants or DPPs is available on request from nicpld-prescribing@qub.ac.uk.
ACTION
Contractors are asked to note the information provided above and share with relevant members of the team, including any community pharmacists considering IP training, and any existing community pharmacist IPs who may consider acting as a DPP under the support scheme.
Please note that CPNI has been advised that the DPP funding is available for this year only.
Queries on the DPP support scheme can be sent to nicpld-prescribing@qub.ac.uk. Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI team or email Ennis.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
Further to the CPNI update on FTY 2026/2027 which issued on 25 March 2025, contractors will be aware that the Department of Health led Task and Finish group will host a webinar for prospective FTY employers from 7-8pm on 8 April 2025, and registration is available here.
Contractors will note that within the joint selection, recruitment and allocation process, trainees who are successful in the multi-mini interview process will be allocated to community pharmacy and hospital placements. Community pharmacies will no longer be able to select their chosen trainee.
Community pharmacies will be invited to “opt-in” to the FTY 2026/27 process between 9 – 25 April 2025.
As contractors will be required to agree to a terms of participation agreement for the FTY programme, they may wish to review the terms of participation and seek legal and/or HR advice prior to “opting-in”.
NICPLD has indicated that employers can ask questions during the webinar, or can send queries in advance to nicpld-fty@qub.ac.uk.
ACTION
Contractors considering involvement in FTY 2026/2027 are advised to review the CPNI update on FTY 2026/2027 and consider attending the webinar on 8 April 2025.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI team or email Ennis.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
BSO has raised a number of issues with CPNI associated with late submissions of prescriptions to BSO for payment. You and the pharmacy staff involved in the prescription submission processes to BSO are asked to consider the following:
The number of prescription submissions arriving late to BSO (beyond the 3-day courier collection period) is impacting on BSO’s ability to make payments to contractors with late submissions at month-end.
BSO payment processes are such that they only have a limited window in which to process the prescriptions in time for payment at month-end and they are increasingly not able to facilitate late prescription submissions.
Contractors will be aware that it is the responsibility of the contractor to make sure that prescriptions are received by BSO on time irrespective of whether a courier, a member of staff, or any other method is used to transport the prescriptions to BSO.
Contractors and staff involved in prescription submission processes are asked to note the monetary value typically contained within the prescription submission for the pharmacy / pharmacies you operate.
For the purposes of illustration each prescription form should be considered equivalent to a ‘£20 note’. Teams should then consider how an equivalent ‘package of cash’ would be handled within the pharmacy, the storage of it until it is taken by the staff member to BSO or handed over to a courier driver for onward transportation to BSO.
In a number of instances prescription submissions were not received by BSO for several days after they left the pharmacy and the submissions were subsequently classified as ‘missing’ while en-route to BSO.
Factors involved in several of these cases included
i) the prescription submission package intended for transportation to BSO being mistaken for drugs being returned to a pharmaceutical wholesaler.
ii) illegible or missing address details and
iii) poor packaging contributing to transportation difficulties.
Contractors and staff are also asked to note the GDPR obligations associated with the handling of the confidential patient information contained on prescription forms while they are in the pharmacy and en-route in a submission to BSO.
Contractors can consider the following Do’s and Don’ts. You may wish to make all staff who are involved in any process associated with prescriptions being prepared for submission to BSO aware:
Do’s
Ensure pharmacy staff follow the BSO guidance here and here when coding, prepping, bundling and documenting the submission of prescription forms prior to submission to BSO for payment.
Ensure prescriptions are ready for submission to BSO on-time and in accordance with the schedule. Please note: failure to do so may result in BSO not being able to make your payment at month-end.
Ensure that prescriptions being transferred to BSO are securely contained within a robust container (secure box/secure package etc).
Ensure that the BSO address (and/or any relevant courier labelling) is clearly visible and securely retained on to the container.
Ensure the container is clearly identifiable to all relevant pharmacy staff as the BSO prescription submission irrespective of whether it is transported to BSO by a staff member or a courier. The use of ‘high visibility’ colour-coded security tape on the container may be helpful in this.
Separate and securely store the prescription submission package/container away from any other packages/parcels/wholesaler boxes that staff and/or 3rd party drivers have access to in the pharmacy.
Only authorised pharmacy staff should be permitted to hand over the BSO prescription submission to the pharmacy staff member or the courier transporting the prescription submission to BSO.
If using a courier, ensure that all processes are followed before the courier leaves the pharmacy with the BSO prescription submission.
The prescription submission must be ready by 9am of the first day of the agreed collection period.
Ensure that an authorised and ID identifiable member of the courier staff is collecting the prescription submission.
If the courier does not arrive within the agreed collection period, they and the BSO should be contacted urgently, with the aim of getting the submission to BSO on time.
The submission box should have a tracking label clearly placed on to the box, and any possible previous delivery information on the box should be removed to negate any confusion to the driver.
Securely retain all documentation confirming the collection of each prescription submission.
Contact BSO if, for any reason, your prescription submission is not transferred to BSO within the 3-day submission period required by BSO.
Don’ts
Do not hand any prescription submissions over to any individuals that are not authorised to transfer/transport prescriptions to BSO on your behalf.
Do not hand any prescription submissions over to any individuals if you have any doubts about the prescription submission reaching BSO.
BSO wish to acknowledge the cooperation of those contractors that submit prescriptions in accordance with the set timelines and requirements.
Please contact CPNI office if you require any further advice regarding this.
Kind regards,
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
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