HRA Pharma is celebrating the 1st anniversary of Hana, the first type of daily oral contraception available in the UK without a prescription.
The launch of Hana in 2021 followed the historic decision of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant a marketing authorisation
and marked a significant step forward in the women's contraception category.
The company reports that pharmacists have embraced the reclassification and have found merit in using emergency contraception consultations as an opportunity to
educate women on their over-the-counter contraception options.
Alison Slingsby, innovations project manager at HRA Pharma, commented: "We have been delighted with Hana's reception - within weeks of launch, it quickly became
the best-selling mini-pill without prescription, with more than 95 per cent market share, and has maintained this market leading position ever since. We previously
had the experience of switching emergency contraceptive ellaOne to a P medicine, Hana is on track to match and eventually exceed the ellaOne volumes.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is calling on NHS England and its member to pause and reflect before further implementing the pharmacy contraception
service.
NPA board met on Tuesday (25 April) to discuss the Pharmacy Contraception Service and the board decided that - with the community pharmacy sector at breaking
point - it cannot support the immediate roll out of this service.
The association believes that with no new funding for the service, and all existing funds in effect already allocated to other pharmacy activity, any payments
to the sector for delivery of the oral contraception service will ultimately be clawed back by NHS England.
Tweeting after the meeting yesterday, the NPA said: "We can't tell pharmacy owners what they can and can't do. But we can tell them the facts; fact number one is
that with no new funding currently available everyone will be a loser from the implementation of this service on the current terms."
NPA Vice-Chair Jay Badenhorst added: "We cannot be expected to take on more and more services without the increase in funding necessary to deliver them effectively.
Meanwhile, taking on additional work when current workload already exceeds capacity risks impacting negatively on the overall quality of care people experience in
pharmacies. We still believe this could, in future, be a great new pharmacy service, but not without the extra funding necessary to deliver it safely and
effectively. We want to offer women this extra support, but if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly."
Contraceptives for birth control! Whether they are shots, pills, patches, rings or implants, Contraceptives have always been more or less been considered important and essential for a female. Today, there..
The specification for the Pharmacy Contraceptive Service has been launched for pharmacy contractors to download from the NHSBSA website.
However, the service will not start on 11th January 2023, as originally planned, but it is expected to commence in early 2023, revealed the Pharmaceutical Services
Negotiating Committee (PSNC).
It added: "The exact start date is yet to be agreed, as now the service specification has been published, community pharmacy IT system suppliers need time to develop
support for the service, so this is available to contractors from the service commencement date."
Commenting on the publication of the service specification, Alastair Buxton, Director of NHS Services, at PSNC said: "When time in their busy professional lives
allows, the publication of the service specification ahead of the start of the new service provides contractors and their teams with an opportunity to learn more
about it and to consider whether it is something they will have the capacity to provide in due course.
National pharmacy bodies have expressed their disappointment on the launch date for Tier 1 of the Pharmacy Contraception Service which has been announced by
NHS England (NHSE) as '24th April 2023′.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said that this start date for the service has not been agreed with PSNC and is in direct contradiction of our
warning to Ministers that no new or expanded services can be rolled out in 2023/24 unless extra funding is put into community pharmacies.
Responding to this announcement, PSNC Chief Executive Janet Morrison said: "This is despite our warning last month that without additional funding, the roll-out of
Year 5 additional services and the Pharmacy Quality Scheme is neither feasible nor affordable. Community pharmacies are having to work harder and harder for less
money and many are at breaking point. And just this week the results of our 2023 Pharmacy Pressures Survey have confirmed the worsening situation.
Clearly our view is not because contractors don't see the benefit of the service. This is a much-anticipated service that could deliver real benefits to patients and
community pharmacies are always eager to support public health initiatives. But capacity in the sector is now so stretched that more money is needed to safely
resource additional work.
We have repeated our concerns to the Department in recent days and reminded them of the potential for a properly funded community pharmacy sector to play a greater
role in providing clinical solutions and relieving pressures elsewhere in primary care."
In a unified effort to improve women's healthcare, four leading organisations-the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA),
the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH)-are calling for the commissioning of a National Emergency
Hormonal Contraception (EHC) service in England.
They are proposing that this service be provided free of charge through community pharmacies to women of all ages across the country.
They emphasised that such a service would "not only transform access to care for all women, but directly tackle health inequalities and vastly improve health
outcomes."
The Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) will be expanded to enable urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist
for a consultation for minor illness or urgent medicine supply from Monday (15 May), the DHSC and NHSE said.
The service builds on the progress made in GP referrals via the CPCS and hospital referrals under the Discharge Medicine Service. It was originally planned to launch
in March, and fee for this service will be the existing CPCS fee of £14, as per the agreement for both year 4 and year 5 of the Community Pharmacy Contractual
Framework (CPCF) 2019 to 2024 5-year deal.
In an update on the CPCF, published today (12 May), the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) has also committed to the 4 October 2023
launch date for the Tier 2 of the Pharmacy Contraception Service, subject to a positive evaluation of the pilot.
The Tier 1 of the service was launched on 24 April, delayed by over three months. This new service enables community pharmacists to provide ongoing management, via
a patient group direction (PGD), of routine oral contraception that was initiated in general practice or by a sexual health clinic. The fees for this service are as
follows: a fee for each consultation of £18; and a set-up fee of £900, paid in instalments.
The Tier 2 will "enable community pharmacists to also initiate oral contraception, via a PGD, and provide ongoing clinical checks and annual reviews," Alette Addison,
deputy director for pharmacy, dental and optical at the DHSC and Ali Sparke, director for dentistry, community pharmacy and optometry at the NHSE, said in a letter.
HRA Pharma's progestogen-only contraceptive pill, Hana, has won the 'Special Achievement Award' at the Nicolas Hall awards.
The awards took place on May 5, 2022 in Athens. HRA's Marketing Director for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics, Kate Evans, was in attendance to represent the Hana
team and accept the award.
The Hana pill became available in July 2021 for women in the UK to purchase without a prescription following a pharmacy consultation.
The launch has made it easier for women to access effective daily contraception. This reclassification made HRA Pharma one of the leaders in this new healthcare category. The switch followed the authorisation of reclassification of desogestrel by UK regulator MHRA. Hana was one of the first products to enter this new market.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is organising a series of webinars to help pharmacy owners and their teams to prepare for the implementation of new
Pharmacy First service, and changes to the Contraception and Hypertension Case-Finding Services.
Beginning from 5th December, the webinars would be conducted throughout December and January, with support from NHS England and the Centre for Postgraduate
Education (CPPE), the organisation announced on Thursday (30 November).
During the online seminars, pharmacy teams will be explained about the individual services announced, and things to consider before they start providing, or
expand their offering of, these services.
Each webinar will have CPE's Services Team, who would be leading the team, and policy experts from NHS England and CPPE as speakers.
EMIS Pinnacle, the leading Pharmacy First IT supplier, has begun implementing the GP Connect Update Record feature to all community pharmacies in England that
use PharmOutcomes.
Starting June 28, this new feature was made available for use with the Hypertension case-finding service and the Pharmacy contraception service, as announced by
the Community Pharmacy England (CPE).
The GP Connect Update Record will enable community pharmacies to securely share "structured" information with GP practices regarding consultations conducted under
the Pharmacy First programme, which includes minor illness and clinical pathways, along with Hypertension Case Finding and Pharmacy Contraception services
Live testing is underway with EMIS Pinnacle for Pharmacy First minor illness and clinical pathways.
There are plans to expand the system in the future to include updates for urgent supply of medicines under the Pharmacy First service.
EMIS Pinnacle is the third CPCF IT system supplier to offer this functionality, following Cegedim's Pharmacy Services system and Positive Solutions' HXConsult
system.
The Department of Health (DoH) Northern Ireland is reminding the public to think Pharmacy First this winter to stay well and reduce demands on other parts
of their health service.
Under this new advanced service, a local pharmacy can provide treatment and advice on a range of health conditions including common colds, stomach upsets, ear
aches, diarrhoea, head lice, mouth ulcers and thrush.
Pharmacies will also directly provide emergency contraception and advice and treatment for uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) for women aged 16 to 64
years without the need for a GP appointment, the department said.
Further the public are informed that 42 community pharmacies across the country will be providing a sore throat service this winter, involving advice, testing for
infection and treatment, if necessary.
Maxwellia has revealed its plans to switch some of its medicines in the self-care category from prescription-only-medicine (POM) to a pharmacy (P) medicine.
After authorising the switch of Maxwellia's two brands of desogestrel contraceptive pills, Lovima and Hana, MHRA has opened a public consultation on reclassification of Aquiette (overactive bladder treatment) 2.5mg tablets manufactured by the company to be made available from pharmacies.
"Maxwellia is currently looking at a number of medicines which treat a range of conditions in major public health categories that can be 'switched' from needing a prescription to being conveniently bought at a local high street or supermarket pharmacy. With its foot firmly on the accelerator it has other applications under assessment with the MHRA, including women's health products," the company stated in a recent statement.
"Push to convert more prescription medicines to pharmacy medicines will firmly position pharmacists at heart of nation's public health, helping futureproof NHS," the medicine said.
Wales has begun the rolled-out of a community pharmacy prescribing service as part of reforms agreed by the Welsh health minister last December.
Eluned Morgan approved wide-ranging changes following re-negotiation of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework with Community Pharmacy Wales, the
representative body for community pharmacies in Wales.
The roll out will allow appropriately trained community pharmacists to treat an extended range of conditions that currently require people to visit their GP.
Initially pharmacist prescribers will be able to prescribe medicines, including antibiotics for acute illnesses like urinary tract and upper respiratory tract infections, and also prescribe routine contraception.
The first of its kind in the UK, the service is being rolled out progressively across Wales, building on local schemes which are already in place.
Sixty-seven per cent of UK independent pharmacists say the pandemic has positively changed how patients view the clinical services offered by community pharmacy.
The research - carried out with an independent panel of more than 100 community pharmacists - revealed that 35 per cent of them had increased their clinical services to fulfil patient demand during the pandemic.
Seventeen per cent said they had expanded their private clinical services such as vaccinations and dermatology, with a further 17 per cent adding sexual health services such as emergency contraception and chlamydia screening in their services offer.
Thirty per cent introduced NHS health checks and emergency supply NHS services during the pandemic.
Community Pharmacy Wales and the Welsh government have entered an agreement on Thursday (December 16), enabling all pharmacies to deliver provision of
contraception, treatment for common minor ailments, and access to repeat medicines in an emergency.
Expansion of clinical community pharmacy service will be supported with an increased funding of £20 million a year by April 2024 from the current level of £11.4m.
The two bodies have been negotiating the terms of agreement, which also includes plans to roll out a Wales-wide pharmacy prescribing service, allowing trained pharmacists to treat an extended range of conditions that currently require GP visits.
The agreement will allow patients to access NHS services closer to home which in turn would free up GP and other NHS services for patients with more complex needs.
Eluned Morgan MS, minister for Health and Social Services said: "I welcome the positive approach to negotiations taken by Community Pharmacy Wales, embracing our ambition for a reimagined community pharmacy service, which is an integral part of a strong primary care landscape."
The Department of Health and Social Care aims to amend the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, thereby enabling pharmacy technicians to provide and administer
specific medicines through a patient group direction. In line with this initiative, the Department introduced a six-week consultation to assess whether registered
pharmacy technicians should be authorised to dispense medicines using a PGD.
The proposals, backed by all four Home Nations, apply exclusively to registered pharmacy technicians. Meanwhile, this coverage will extend to include pharmacy
technicians in Northern Ireland upon their achievement of registered professional status.
"The proposed statutory instrument, presently applicable in England, Scotland, and Wales would offer 'clear benefits,' especially in areas such as vaccination
and the provision of oral contraception and EHC," the DHSC said.
According to the Department, facilitating registered pharmacy technicians to execute PGDs might amplify their workload, yet it could simultaneously enhance
overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness for pharmacy teams by optimising the utilisation of skill diversity.
Pharmacy Minister, Will Quince received flu vaccination and blood pressure check at his visit to a Boots pharmacy in Westminster arranged by the Company
Chemists' Association (CCA).
The Boots pharmacist, Flavia, explained to the Minister the broad range of services the pharmacy delivers, from the new medicines service to emergency contraception
and the community pharmacy consultation service.
The Minister witnessed first-hand much of what the community pharmacy sector has to offer patients and the NHS.
Malcolm Harrison Chief Executive of the CCA said: "We share the Minister's vision on how community pharmacies and their teams can contribute to the 'Plan for
Patients' set out by the Secretary of State. It is great to have the support of the Minister and we are excited for the future of pharmacy.
As part of a new blueprint for primary care, the government today (May 9) announced an investment of £645 million over two years to expand community pharmacy
services in England.
In a statement, NHS England said: "For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a
GP appointment, for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections."
Prime minister Rishi Sunak hopes that the measures will help end the "all-too stressful wait on the end of the phone for patients" by freeing up 15 million slots at
doctors' surgeries over the next two years.
"We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly and easily," he said
Almost half a million women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP to access oral contraception and will instead be able to pop into their local
pharmacy for it, according to the government announcement.
Blood checks for people suffering from moderate risk of heart attack or stroke conducted in community pharmacies will more than double from 900,000 last year to
2.5 million next year.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the "ambitious package" would help transform how care is provided within the health service "with pharmacies playing a
central role in managing the nation's health including providing lifesaving checks and medication for common conditions for the first time.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is aiming to reach an agreement with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) on negotiation
with regards to expanded services and payment model in the pharmacy sector.
Chief Executive Janet Morrison, said: "We are working at pace in negotiations with DHSC and NHSE. The process remains on track with the Government's original
timescale - i.e. aiming for agreement in July, with cross-government clearance later in July, and implementation from July through to September."
CPE is involved in working groups on service expansion of Hypertension Case-Finding and the Pharmacy Contraception Scheme and service design for the Common
Conditions Service; and are in in-depth negotiations on Payment models.
These discussions critically look at the balance between funding core capacity and activity payments, how the funding streams will be distributed and how CPE
will measure delivery and impact.
NHSE has been leading on the development of the PGD pathways for each of the 7 conditions, with external medical, pharmacy and other experts feeding into the
process - pharmacy owners from the Community Pharmacy England Committee have also been involved but the discussions are clinically led to ensure they comply with
NICE principles and concur with Antimicrobial Stewardship policy.
Boots UK has agreed to grant a five per cent pay increase to its pharmacists following a collaborative agreement with the Pharmacists' Defence
Association (PDA). This raise acknowledges the unique market conditions faced by pharmacists in the community pharmacy sector, Boots UK and PDA said in a
joint statement on Oct. 9.
According to the statement, the pay increase applies to all pharmacists within the PDA Union's bargaining unit, except for those who joined or received a pay
raise after August 2023. Moreover, trainee pharmacists or those not meeting performance standards are not eligible for the raise.
Additionally, pharmacists and store managers will receive a pro-rata, one-time non-consolidated payment of £750 in August 2024. This payment serves as recognition
for their dedication to establishing and providing new core and advanced NHS services, particularly in light of the substantial changes anticipated in the upcoming
year, the joint statement said.
The services include new medicines, hypertension, contraception, and common conditions services in England, the clinical community pharmacy service in Wales, and
the Pharmacy First services in Scotland and Northern Ireland.