Group items tagged

The Department of Health and Social Care have retrospectively granted a concessionary price for Isocarboxazid 10mg tablets for the months of May and June 2021. While the reimbursement price had previously been £217.75, a concessionary price of £249.10 has now been granted. The NHS Business Services Authority confirmed that payment for the difference - £31.35 for every pack of 56 claimed - will be adjusted accordingly for the mentionedtime period where contractors have submitted claims in those months. This adjustment will be paid on 31 December 2021 in the next Schedule of Payments.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has published the Drug Tariff Category M price list for July which reflects an increase in reimbursement level of approximately £5m per quarter. An adjustment of -£23.8m was announced, in light of the results of the margin survey (latest result up until end of December 2022), and the phasing down of the additional £100m agreed across years 4 and 5 as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework and uplifts for underlying market prices (between January - March 2023). Community Pharmacy England has agreed the adjustments based on the analysis of margin delivery and on current projections for 2023/24. It said: "The objectives are to ensure full delivery of agreed margin and smooth delivery as much as possible. As always, the impact on individual pharmacies will vary depending on dispensing mix."

Atorvastatin was the most dispensed drug in England in 2021/22 with 53.4 million items, revealed the annual Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) published by NHS Business Services Authority. According to the official statistics, Apixaban (an anticoagulant) was the drug with the highest cost of £401 million. The statistics revealed that the cost of prescription items dispensed in the community in England was £9.69 billion, a 0.87 per cent increase of £83.7 million from £9.61 billion in 2020/21. "The number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England was 1.14 billion, a 2.58 per cent increase of 28.7 million items from 1.11 billion in 2020/21." FreeStyle Libre 2 Sensor kit (a glucose monitoring system) was the presentation with the largest absolute increase in cost between 2020/21 and 2021/22 of £69.8 million, from £2.84 million to £72.6 million.

Digital pharmacy app Charac has raised over £1 million in debt and equity, bringing total funding to date for the London-based startup to £2.5m. Pharmacy Business understands while the majority of the new finance, worth about £1.2 million, comes from the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) coffer, the remainder is put forward by a number of individual pharmacy businesses. The pharmacy sector is in a state of crisis, experiencing nearly two closures per week over the past two years, Charac said in a statement. According to data from the NHS Business Services Authority, there are now only 11,026 community pharmacies in England, the lowest number since 2015. The current crisis is attributed to escalating operational costs, a shortage of staff, and diminished government financial support.

Pharmacy contractors will no longer need to print and submit a paper copy of their completed FP34C declaration made through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal when submitting their paper prescription bundle to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), said the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC). Instead, from August 2022 (for July 2022 prescriptions), NHSBSA will post out a paper Account Identifier Document along with the red separators and pharmacy address labels each month. "The Account Identifier Document should be placed alongside the paper prescription bundle before it is dispatched for payment to the relevant pricing division of NHSBSA," said PSNC. With the help of Account Identifier Document, NHSBSA will be able to easily identify the pharmacy that has submitted the prescription bundle, which will help to speed up prescription processing. "If the Account Identifier Document is lost or misplaced, contractors will still be able to download and print another copy from MYS. The July 2022 Drug Tariff will be updated to reflect this change."

More than 6,000 pharmacy contractors who declared their October 2021 FP34C submission figures by November 5, will have received earlier advance payments on November 11. The contractors had submitted their claims through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal. All contractors who received payments under the system would have got a letter from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) regarding these payments,PSNC stated. Approximate 3,000 contractors submitted claims after November 5, and will receive payments as per the normal payment timetable on December 1, it said. The negotiator encouraged contractors to benefit from earlier advance payments by submitting their monthly declaration through the MYS portal by the 5th of the month.

The full version of the Community Pharmacy Assurance Framework (CPAF) questionnaire is now available for selected pharmacies to complete. This follows a screening questionnaire in July, which all community pharmacies in England were asked to complete as part of the CPAF process. Pharmacies may be selected for the full, comprehensive CPAF questionnaire if, for example, they did not complete a screening questionnaire or if there are concerns about the pharmacy relating to patient safety. Some pharmacies may also be selected to validate their screening questionnaire answers. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) said selected pharmacies have been contacted. It's mandatory to complete the survey which can be used as a training tool and for continuous monitoring of compliance against the community pharmacy contract.

Considering the shortage of Fluoxetine 10mg tablets, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has extended the serious shortage protocol (SSP) for the medicine to February 11, 2022. Earlier the SSP for Fluoxetine 10mg tablets was set to expire on November 12. Extension of the transition period will enable use of No Cheaper Stock Obtainable (NCSO) endorsement and use of EPS tokens to claim for supplies made in accordance with SSPs. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has accepted that either the new 'SSP' or existing 'NCSO' endorsement for any SSP claims can be submitted using electronic prescriptions (EPS) tokens of FP10 paper prescriptions, during the period.

Atorvastatin, a medicine to treat high blood cholesterol, is the most dispensed drug with 59 million items in England in 2022/23, revealed the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) on Thursday (8 June). While Apixaban (an anticoagulant) was the drug with the highest costs of £430 million. Apixaban 5mg tablets had the largest increase in cost between 2021/22 and 2022/23 in England, with an increase of £280 million. NHSBSA's annual statistics report 'Prescription Cost Analysis-England 2022/23' published also has revealed an eight per cent rise in the prescription items that were dispensed in the community in England. The report highlighted that in 2022/23, 1.18 billion prescription items were dispensed at a cost of £10.4 billion in the community in England, witnessing an increase of eight per cent from £9.69 billion in 2021/22.

The new Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) has witnessed more than 37,000 purchases both via online website and in-person in pharmacies since its launch on Saturday (1 April). As of 12pm today (4 April), 37,240 HRT PPCs have been bought online and 501 in-pharmacy, totalling 37,741 certificates. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) estimated women have saved over £1.13 million in prescription charges for the year, with the average person saving £30 for a year's supply. The new prescription pre-payment certificate is also predicted to enable around 400,000 women to have cheaper access to menopause support. On the launch of the scheme on Saturday, the huge demand for the much-anticipated certificate meant some patients were unable to access the website on the morning of 1 April. "The NHS Business Service Authority has ensured that the site has been working, allowing thousands of women to continue to successfully purchase a prescription for a year's worth of hormone replacement therapy products which help treat the menopause," said DHSC. Minister for Women's Health Strategy, Maria Caulfield said: "Over 37,700 women have come forward to claim cheaper HRT this weekend alone, showing what happens when we listen to what women want.

Increased cooperation between countries is needed to ensure better regulation of online pharmacies, said authors of a new report - 'Online pharmacy operations and distribution of medicines', published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation's (FIP) Community Pharmacy Section. The report presents findings of a global survey of pharmacy organisations covering various aspects, such as type of medicines supplied by these pharmacies in different countries, how the authenticity of online pharmacies can be verified, and the usage of e-prescriptions and shared patient health records. Of the 79 countries responding to the survey, 51 per cent acknowledged that no regulation of online pharmacies exists. A quarter of the respondents reported cases of irresponsible self-medication by consumers who had purchased medicines through online pharmacies. A lack of regulation creates "an avenue for illegal pharmacies and may impact the overall quality of medicines and services offered to consumers," authors of the report said. Lars-Åke Söderlund, immediate past president of FIP's Community Pharmacy Section and co-editor of the report, said that the pandemic has increased preference for online services, including in the pharmacy sector.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is pushing ahead with its plans to implement a new drug tariff from April 2024. However, this move has sparked strong opposition from Community Pharmacy England (CPE), raising concerns about its potential impact on pharmacies and patients. Earlier, it was announced that the April drug tariff will include the new 'Retrospective top-up payment for Concessionary prices, which will be applied automatically for the products listed in Part VIIIE each quarter by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), according to the volume the contractor was paid for. However, CPE argued that the government has imposed these "untested" changes without their agreement, and strongly opposed them stating that "no recovery or downward pressure on margin is acceptable given the financial fragility of community pharmacies." Janet Morrison, chief executive of CPE, has voiced strong opposition to these changes, arguing that "any system expecting pharmacies to dispense at a loss" jeopardises the sector's financial stability and compromises patient care.

Authorities in Northern Ireland have seized more than 242,000 unlicensed prescription tablets purchased online and destined for addresses throughout NI. The medicines seized include Diazepam, used for anti-anxiety treatment, Pregabalin, used for epilepsy and anxiety, steroids and Zopiclone. Other prescription medicines recovered included Tamoxifen, often used in the treatment of breast cancer and Salbutamol inhalers, frequently used in the treatment of asthma. "Co-operation between law enforcement agencies and government departments has led to the seizure of over 242,000 illegal and unlicensed tablets purchased online and destined for addresses throughout Northern Ireland," justice minister Naomi Long was reported as saying. The minister, together with health minister Robin Swann and assistant chief constable Mark McEwan PSNI were highlighting Northern Ireland's input to the global, Interpol co-ordinated Operation Pangea XV, which saw multiple packages of tablets intercepted and seized, with a street value of almost £250,000. She praised the concerted efforts made by PSNI, Border Force and officials from the Department of Health Medicines Regulatory Group during a specific week of action in June.

Smoking is the most significant cause of preventable deaths in England, and the health risks associated with smoking well documented. This not only puts a heavy burden on the healthcare system but also has a substantial social impact. Its link to health inequalities is more evident because it is more prevalent amongst the most vulnerable in our society, with low educational attainment and poor socioeconomic status. Even as smoking rates progressively reduced, these patients remained the most difficultto reach with cessation services. Recent years have also seen many local authorities stop providing locally commissionedNHS stop smoking service, citing funding constraints. The postpandemic financial reckoning may yet see more strain on what is left in the coffers. The Healthy Living pharmacy ethos community pharmacy teams, proactively supporting patients to quit and advising on the best evidence-shaped approach, deliver successful outcomes.