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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.

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched two surveys to gather data on the pressures that people working in community pharmacies are facing. Pharmacy teams have informed the negotiator about the ongoing financial and operational pressures and expressed concerns that these pressures could impact patients' care. The surveys would give a snapshot of the problems faced by pharmacies and the results will be used in ongoing discussions with NHS England & NHS Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care. The results will also help PSNC to make pharmacy's case in conversations with the MPs, ministers and the national media. The two separate surveys are for: Pharmacy business owners/head office representatives - This survey covers the pressures faced by businesses, including financial and staffing pressures. Pharmacy teams - It covers the day-to-day pressures experienced by pharmacy teams including supply chain issues, patient interactions/experience and staff morale.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has announced that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has granted final price concessions to further items for the month of November 2021. A price concession only applies for the month in which it is granted. No additional prescription endorsement are required as the new price is automatically applied by the NHS BSA to all items submitted for payment in the same month for which a price concession is granted. Contractors can find information and learn about the process involved on PSNC's website. Check pharmacy business website for price concession list november 2021.

India will make tests mandatory for cough syrups before they are exported, a government notice showed on Tuesday, after Indian-made cough syrups were linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan. Any cough syrup must have a certificate of analysis issued by a government laboratory before it is exported, effective June 1, the government said in a notice dated May 22 and shared by the health ministry on Tuesday. India's $41 billion pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest in the world but its reputation was shaken after the World Health Organization (WHO) found toxins in cough syrups made by three Indian companies. Syrups made by two of these companies were linked to the deaths of 70 children in Gambia and 19 in Uzbekistan last year. "Cough syrup shall be permitted to be exported subject to the export sample being tested and production of certificate of analysis," said the notice issued by the trade ministry. The health ministry did not immediately respond to a query on whether testing would be required for cough syrups sold in the domestic market.

Community pharmacies in England will continue to receive the free protective equipment (PPE) as the Government's scheme has been extended for another year until March 2024. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that it will continue to supply all categories of PPE, free of charge, for frontline health and social care staff according to demand until the end of March 2024, or when stocks run out. Last year, DHSC implemented a new and improved portal platform for eligible providers to access free COVID-19 related PPE supplies. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Commitee (PSNC) said: "Community pharmacy teams can continue to order PPE from the NHS PPE portal for free for as long as stock is available."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has appointed Laura Wilson as Director for Scotland commencing 23rd January 2023. Laura, is currently Policy and Practice Lead for RPS in Scotland. She is accountable for bringing national RPS policy to life for members in Scotland, while contributing to the GB wide professional leadership agenda. She will work closely with the Scottish Pharmacy Board, senior NHS officials and other key stakeholders across the breadth of the pharmacy profession and beyond to ensure pharmacy is on the forefront of healthcare in Scotland. She joins the existing team of RPS Country Directors, which includes Elen Jones, Director for Wales and James Davies, Director for England and will report directly to the Chief Executive. Laura Wilson said: "I am delighted to be appointed Director for Scotland having worked as part of the RPS Scotland team as the policy and practice lead. It will be an honour to continue the fantastic work started by former Director Clare Morrison to bring Pharmacy 2030, our vision for pharmacy in Scotland in the future, to life and supporting pharmacy teams to deliver person centred care.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Director for Scotland Clare Morrison participated in the panel discussion alongside representatives from other health professional organisations on tackling the workforce crisis at the SNP conference in Aberdeen on 8 October. At the conference, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care committed to achieving protected learning time for health professionals. Morrison welcomed the Cabinet Secretary's statement as fantastic news for pharmacists across Scotland. "RPS Scotland will follow up the discussion by writing to the Cabinet Secretary to request a meeting to discuss achieving protected learning time, the forthcoming results of our workforce wellbeing survey, and positive examples of how pharmacy teams have improved the well-being of their teams," said the society.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has expressed its concerns over sustained pressures on medicines supply that are having a very serious impact on community pharmacy teams and their patients. It has asked contractors and their teams to continue using its regular reporting tools to help them demonstrate the scale of the problems to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and to support escalations as needed. The committee said: "The sustained increases in price concessions that we have seen so far in 2022 - with more than 100 concessions being granted in some months - show no signs of abating, and we know that many pharmacies now find themselves in a critical situation trying to source medicines in timely manner and facing significant financial risk due to greater uncertainty around expected reimbursement prices for a large number of medicines." "We know that some concessions being imposed by the Department do not match contractors' experience on the ground, and we would ask all contractors to continue reporting pricing issues to us on a regular basis to support our representations: Report product over Drug Tariff price."

The Taskforce report recognises the important role of community pharmacy and pharmacy teams, and in particular, the fact that they often have most contact with individuals who are receiving medication assisted treatment, commented the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) on the publication of the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce's final report. The final report published on Thursday (June 21) follows four years of work developing and implementing a programme of actions to tackle the rising number of drug deaths in Scotland. RPS, as pharmacy's professional leadership body in Scotland and the rest of Great Britain, has positively engaged with the Taskforce as it carried out its work. Last year, RPS published 'Pharmacy's role in reducing harm and preventing drugs deaths (Scotland)' which contained 14 key recommendations. Many of the recommended actions within the Taskforce's report align with RPS policy.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called its member to to express their views and fill out the Department of Health and Social Care's hub and spoke survey on the proposed model of dispensing. The Society has urged its members to fill out the survey before May 20. RPS president Claire Anderson said: "It is vital that RPS members have their say on issue that impact you in your roles. Currently only single legal entities can make use of this model of dispensing. "Our survey, which opened today, seeks your views and comments and will help to inform the RPS submission to this consultation." The consultation on the proposals to enable all community pharmacies to access hub and spoke dispensing published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will run for three months and will close on June 8, 2022.

The voter turnout in England for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's English Pharmacy Board election dropped to 7.9 per cent this year. Out of a total of 19,512 eligible individuals, only 1,534 decided to vote. The RPS English Board received ten nominations for five vacancies this year; therefore an election was conducted. One nomination was received for the three vacancies on the Welsh Pharmacy Board. Three nominations were received for the three vacancies on the Scottish Pharmacy Board. Therefore, no election was conducted in pharmacy boards in Wales or Scotland. RPS president Claire Anderson said: "It's disappointing that the voter turnout in England has dropped to 7.9 from 11.8 per cent in 2021. We have now appointed an independent review of how RPS members, elected members and stakeholders can feel more engaged and empowered to influence RPS decisions, and eagerly await its recommendations." The Society appointed communications agency Luther Pendragon to lead a review into how it can develop and strengthen member participation.

Community pharmacies in Cornwall have delivered more than 8000 face-to-face consultations over last 12 months. Walk In Consultation Service (WICS) began 12 months ago when pharmacies in Cornwall started offering face-to-face consultations for a wide range of minor ailments, and NHS treatment as required - the first service of its kind in England. Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Scilly Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) Chief Officer Nick Kaye joined Operations Manager Drew Creek in Parliament recently by invite of Steve Double MP, St Austell and Newquay to meet with Minister for Health Neil O'Brien MP to present the service to them and Senior Civil Servants from DHSC and NHSE with a view to rolling this service out nationally. The data from these consultations show that over 6000 GP appointments were averted as a result of the service being available. After each consultation a record was sent to the patient's GP for information.

The new Flat Fee payment to roll out in April 2023 to all pharmacy contractors who dispense at least 101 items a month, up to a national total of £70m on an annual basis. "The value of the Flat Fee payment has now been determined at £533 per month and will be introduced in the April 2023 Drug Tariff," said the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC). "As with all payments, the Flat Fee payments are subject to change throughout the year depending on the overall level of funding delivery to Community Pharmacies. This will be carefully monitored by PSNC and DHSC, and any funding changes will be communicated to pharmacy contractors as soon as they are known," said PSNC.

Nearly 9,000 pharmacy contractors benefitted from earlier advance payment in January, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said in an update. Contractors who declared their December FP34C submission figures (for the dispensed prescriptions) through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by January 6, would have received earlier advance payments on January 12. Meanwhile, all contractors who made submissions after January 6 or used the FP34C paper document, will receive payments as per the normal payment schedule i.e. on February 1, 2022. PSNC encouraged contractors to submit their monthly declaration through the MYS portal by the 5th of the month to avail early payments.

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 Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2023 to make case against the 'unprecedented financial and operational challenges' faced by the community pharmacies in England. The Committee has urged those working in or owns a community pharmacy to 'take part' in the survey. "The survey results will be critical to help us to show Government and the NHS how difficult things now are for pharmacies, and to persuade them to take action. We will be using the results in our negotiations, in our conversations with MPs, Ministers and in national media work as part of the joint #saveourpharmacies campaign," said PSNC. The Pharmacy Pressures Survey is once again comprised of two surveys to give insight into both financial and operational pressures. Together with the other national pharmacy organisations PSNC are working both to show policy makers the severity of the problems and to lobby for Government and NHS action to ease the pressures.

The health secretary, Steve Barclay was asked over the delay of 'Pharmacy First' model in England that was proposed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) last year, at the Health Committee evidence session held on Tuesday (31 January). Taiwo Owatemi MP (Chair of the Pharmacy APPG) asked whether he was adhering to his statutory responsibility to ensure continued access to medicines and cited the CCA's closures in areas of deprivation research. Barclay replied that the government is 'investing more'. He said, "We put an extra 100 million on top of the 2.6 billion a year we commit to community pharmacy to expand the range of clinical services. We've got over 2 million patients that have been referred to community pharmacy from NHS." He further added: "One of the issues I'm very keen on is to explore what more we can do in pharmacy not least given the pressures on GP and the opportunity to look at what it is currently people go to GPS for where potentially the risk to do more at the pharmacy and we're already doing that."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is seeking views of pharmacists to help shape the future of pharmacy practice in England over the next decade. The RPS's project with The King's Fund, transforming pharmacy practice, aims to develop a vision for the role of pharmacists and pharmacy teams working across systems, providing patient care and NHS services. It's due to be published at the end of the year. "From 15 August to 30 September we are asking people to respond to our consultation on six key themes," the RPS said. "We'll also be holding face-to-face and virtual events in September to hear your views." The King's Fund has completed a literature review which has helped inform the initial six themes which will be the focus of the consultation, all of which can be downloaded and read before responding.

In its response to NHS England's consultation on 'the future of vaccination services', the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has suggested that a wider range of NHS vaccinations being available from community pharmacies could support the achievement of increased vaccination levels. PSNC said: "Any additional services that contractors could provide can only be considered with additional remuneration above the current global sum in the community pharmacy contractual framework to ensure that the services are adequately resourced." Alastair Buxton, director of NHS Services at PSNC, said: "We've always known, and the evidence supports this, that community pharmacies are one of the most popular and accessible places for people to receive a range of vaccinations. "The NHS was slow to take advantage of this at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, so we welcome this consultation from them to bring together a wide range of views on the topic. "In the longer-term, if the right funding and support is in place, many pharmacies could help deliver a much wider range of NHS vaccination programmes - giving the public the convenience and service that they want, and taking pressure off our general practice colleagues. It makes perfect sense, and we look forward to the NHS response to this consultation."

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s 2022 Pharmacy Advice Audit revealed that more than 1.2 million consultations a week - or 65 million a year - are now being carried out by community pharmacy teams in England. This is an increase from 2021, when the audit results suggested that in total pharmacies were providing 58 million consultations per year. PSNC has published the findings of the audit of over 4,000 community pharmacies carried out earlier this year. During the audit, 82,872 informal patient consultations were recorded, with the average pharmacy completing 19 consultations per day. This suggests that more than 1.2 million informal consultations are taking place in community pharmacies in England every week. The audit helped to quantify the number of informal referrals being made to pharmacies by GPs and NHS 111, with 7,774 informal patient referrals into pharmacy coming from these routes; grossed up to a national level that means 117,000 cases per week. These are all referrals that could and should have been made by the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS).