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The Scottish government has announced funding to help community pharmacy contractors purchase air extraction equipment for their premises. The funding will be available to pharmacies that have fitted or committed to fit air extraction equipment on or after 1 April 2020. The funding is aimed at supporting both staff and patient safety, as pharmacists in Scotland provide face to face healthcare services to people every day. The investment is seen as an important protection measure against respiratory infections, including Covid-19 transmission, as Scotland begins to open-up again following the pandemic.

The government has extended VAT exemption from Monday (1 May) on healthcare services carried out by pharmacy staff under the supervision of pharmacists. HM Revenue and Customs has issued a note detailing the change to the VAT treatment of medical services. The Government said this will bring the VAT treatment of pharmacists in line with other registered health professionals providing medical services to the public. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said: "This is something that PSNC has been seeking Government agreement on for a long time, including in recent CPCF negotiations." PSNC believes that the extension of this VAT exemption will help as community pharmacy businesses try to make better use of the skill mix in their teams both now and in the future. "Not only does it enable contractors to review the VAT status of any locally commissioned services currently provided by non-registered pharmacy staff but also, in time, it could be used to amend nationally commissioned services to allow support staff to provide certain parts. For example, following a recent amendment to the service Directions, pharmacy technicians are now able to perform blood pressure checks as part of the Hypertension Case-Finding Service and deliver the Smoking Cessation Service.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has issued an advisory information to community pharmacy contractors about Paxlovid antiviral treatment for non-hospitalised patients. "Patients will be assessed to see if they meet the criteria for inclusion and will need careful checking to see if Paxlovid therapy is safe due to the significant number of drug interactions. Assessment and prescribing are provided via dedicated services with dispensing and supply arranged by the central supply service or via participating community pharmacies," said the PDA. Every pharmacist can support this service by making themselves familiar with the service set up in their area. This is so that they can provide advice and signpost to healthcare colleagues and patients. Pharmacists working in general practice may also be able to help with identifying newly diagnosed highest risk patients. Whilst most of this group should have already been identified and contacted, no system is entirely foolproof. The PDA's advisory note provides information around indemnity and links to information about the prescribing and administration of Paxlovid since it is being provided under a temporary authorisation, and is subject to numerous drug-drug interactions, and is a recommended first-line treatment.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has refused to accept the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s decision to get rid of 'transitional payments' from February 2023. The pharmacy negotiator said that 'any reductions in payments at this point will be impossible for community pharmacy contractors to manage financially.' "We are also continuing to be clear with officials and ministers that CPCF funding needs an urgent uplift to help businesses to cope with soaring costs being driven by inflation and the workforce crisis. We put a comprehensive business case to the government for this uplift in the last CPCF negotiations." The latest 'transitional payments decision' by the Department follows the announcement last year that the value of the these payments would be phased down over the second half of 2022/23 and will be based on the latest monitoring and analysis of funding delivery. PSNC says it submitted a fully-costed bid for a 'Pharmacy First' service in its last round of negotiations alongside the case for an uplift to core CPCF funding. Both of these were refused.

The Scottish government has issued a circular to inform community pharmacy contractors that the Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) for Clarithromycin 125mg/5ml oral suspension, an antibiotic product, due to expire on 15 December 2023, has been extended until Friday 12 January 2024. The extension is applicable to SSP053 which allows community pharmacists to substitute this product with Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml oral suspension for patients presenting with an NHS or private prescription. Scotland's chief pharmaceutical officer, Alison Strath, has advised health boards to spread this information to community pharmacy contractors on their pharmaceutical lists and area pharmaceutical committees, as well as general practices. Community pharmacists have been advised to review and familiarise themselves with the new end date for the noted SSP.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) will be hosting a Parliamentary drop-in event for MPs on Monday (14 November). "The event will last for roughly two hours, during which MPs will have the opportunity to drop-in and have their blood pressure measured by a fully qualified pharmacist," said the committee. It added: "This event will be a great opportunity to talk to MPs from across the political spectrum about the incredible work pharmacies are doing up and down the country, to demonstrate the Hypertension Case-Finding Service and to discuss the frontline role pharmacists play in delivering vital services and free, expert advice." The other community pharmacy bodies, including the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) will also be present on the day, providing the sector with a valuable chance to present a united front on the big issues facing contractors throughout the country.

FreeStyle Libre 3 Sensors and Budesonide 500microgram orodispersible tablets sugar free have been included in the Drugs for which Discount is Not Deducted (DND) list (Part II of the Drug Tariff) from January 2024, according to Community Pharmacy England (CPE). Following applications made by CPE on behalf of pharmacy contractors, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) agreed to give DND status to these products to ensure that "pharmacies are not faced with dispensing these sensors at a loss." Updated monthly by the DHSC, Part II of the Drug Tariff includes grouped and individual items. Recently launched by Abbott Diabetes Care Ltd, FreeStyle Libre 3 Sensors have also been added to the Appliances section in Part IXA of the January 2024 Drug Tariff. As the sensors can only be ordered by pharmacies directly from the manufacturer without any discount, CPE requested the DHSC to exempt this appliance from any discount deduction.

Amendments to the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 along with introduction of a new type of pharmaceutical service come into effect from Tuesday (December 21) and from January 1, 2022. PSNC will be consulted on the new type of enhanced service - the National Enhanced Service (NES), where NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) commissions an enhanced service with a service specification that sets standard conditions nationally. Other amendments to the regulations include: Changes in the contractors' terms of service, allowing NHSE&I to introduce a pandemic response programme, by which contractors are required to have various premises and other arrangements for responding to a pandemic. An alternative route to supply pandemic treatments, via a listed prescription items voucher (LPIV). This is a further option for the community pharmacy for supply of treatments or medicines during or in anticipation of pandemic disease;

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has reminded Community pharmacy contractors to ensure that the correct flu vaccines are being used for each patient cohort. The pharmacies have also been asked to ensure that they recorded accurately in the patient's clinical record for the NHS Flu Vaccination Service. The move was followed by PSNC after the cases where the standard egg-cultured quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVe) was administered in the 65 years and over patient cohort. PSNC said: "On investigation, it appears that a number of these errors are due to data input errors; however, it is important to be careful when selecting a flu vaccine for this patient cohort as there is no provision for the use of the QIVe vaccine in patients aged 65 years and over in the NHS Flu Vaccination Service." The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised it is not an effective intervention for patients aged 65 years and over.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has redetermined the December 2023 concessionary prices for four medicines following requests made by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on behalf of community pharmacy owners. For Ezetimibe 10mg tablets (pack size 28), the price has been fixed at £17.78, up from £9.44. Other drugs included in the list are Aripiprazole 5mg (£8.52), Digoxin 125microgram (£3.70) and Digoxin 250micrgram (£3.70) tablets. Contractors would be reimbursed at the new prices only for prescriptions submitted for payment for the dispensing month of December 2023. CPE said they are still working with DHSC to agree price concessions for January. Check the final the December 2023 price concessionary here. Additionally, DHSC on Friday confirmed that there's now sufficient stock of Clarithromycin 125mg/5ml oral suspension to meet normal demand, and the Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP), SSP053 for the antibiotic expires on 12 January 2024.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has raised concerns over "a prominent pharmacist's call to create a sector 'blacklist' for locums regarding disputes over rates." A few contractors took it to the Twitter to share screenshots of the messages by locums demanding more pay, which led to the call for 'blacklisting' those locums. "The motivation regarding the current talk of creating a blacklist seems intrinsically tied to hourly rates. Although there are occasional and isolated anecdotal reports on social media of alleged incidents of locums seeking higher rates than already agreed, these are far outstripped by reports of pharmacy businesses unwilling to negotiate and who do not want to pay the necessary rate to engage a locum and instead have set capped or fixed rates," said the PDA. It added that all parties should honour agreements they enter into, including a pharmacy's commitment to the NHS that it will open at set times to provide pharmaceutical services to patients and the public.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will introduce new arrangements for the setting of Drug Tariff Category A reimbursement prices from April 2024. Driven by ministers, DHSC's decision aims to equalise access to margin on Category A medicines and it's part of a series of drug reimbursement reforms proposed by the department following a public consultation in 2019. Currently, prices of medicines in Category A are subject to monthly adjustment. From 1 April 2024, these will be updated quarterly based on sales and volume data obtained by DHSC under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018. The transition will conclude in July 2025 when the reimbursement prices will be exclusively determined by the new method. Advance notice for contractors regarding the 'new arrangements' has been outlined on the NHSBSA website. However, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) did not support the introduction of the changes at this time as pharmacies are currently grappling with "wider challenges" and there is uncertainty about the potential impact of these changes on the already "turbulent" medicines supply chain

Despite being relatively new to the dispensing doctor market as a short-liner, Bestway Medhub is seeing exponential growth in the market in addition to the 3,500 independent pharmacies that we service and deliver to. We have however been servicing the dispensing doctor market for well over 40 years through our dispensing appliance contractor (DAC) Wardles. Wardles service and supply more than 55% of all dispensing sites with dressings, bandages, appliances, ostomy, wound care and hosiery. Graham Burford-Row To meet the needs of dispensing practices and surgeries we carry a large range of more than 10,000 Generics, PI's and OTC products. We offer net pricing so the practice can see straight away what price they are paying for their products - with no hidden fees. We offer all our practices 24-hour online ordering via our Bestway Medhub ordering portal and our recently launched Wardles FP Portal. Additionally, we have the backup of a telesales department with personal service from myself and a dedicated Internal Dispensing Dr Account Manager. We offer daily, weekly or monthly calls to those customers wishing to hear our special offers. Our deliveries are done daily via our third party full-line logistics partner for efficient deliveries, which no other short-line wholesaler offers. Bestway Medhub understands that dispensing practices are not only in the business of offering superior care to their patients and community, but they also offer numerous other services like clinics, nursing and referrals. By enabling practices to cost save, the funds could be used elsewhere instead.

Viveca Biomed has launched an innovative and clinically-proven bladder support device that offers women immediate relief from stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and provides community pharmacy contractors with a way to build a new consumer base, customer loyalty and sales margins. The product, named 'Contrelle Activgard', has already recorded millions of sales in Scandinavia over a decade. The company behind the UK launch is female healthcare business Viveca Biomed, founded in 2019 by Andrew Tasker who has spent 30+ years in senior roles within the OTC and pharma industry. Contrelle is manufactured, packed and distributed in the UK at Viveca Biomed's factory near Newcastle, with no outsourcing, and thus offering the best possible continuity of supply. Ahead of the launch, the company commissioned a large consumer lifestyle survey with 500 women over 40 years of age who experience bladder leaks, to reveal the extent of its detrimental impact. Contrelle Activgard is a safe, discrete, easy-to-use and highly effective, single-use vaginal device, designed to immediately prevent SUI rather than just deal with the leakage.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England last month issued a "safety critical" national patient safety alert, warning about the UK-wide shortage of a life-saving drug used to treat patients with chronic breathing issues. NHS trusts, health authorities, ambulance services, GP practices, private healthcare providers, and community pharmacy contractors were informed that salbutamol 2.5mg and 5mg nebuliser liquid unit dose vials are in short supply, with the latter likely to remain "out of stock" until mid-April 2024. As per the alert, the shortage of the drug resulted from a combination of manufacturing issues, leading to heightened demand for alternative suppliers. It was mentioned that while terbutaline, salbutamol with ipratropium, and ipratropium nebuliser liquids remained available, they could't meet the increased demand.