The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched a four point plan at its parliamentary drop-in event for MPs and peers hosted on Tuesday
(15 November).
The event lasted for two hours, during which MPs had the opportunity to drop-in and have their blood pressure measured by pharmacists with experience of working on
the front-line and were briefed on the urgent need for action to address the pressures on the sector.
Outline of the four-point plan:
Resolve the funding squeeze: Community pharmacy needs an immediate funding uplift to prevent large-scale pharmacy closures, as well as emergency business relief to
get through this winter.
Tackle regulatory and other burdens: Pharmacies must be protected from medicines market shocks, supported to help them weather the workforce crisis, helped to free
up capacity and freed from red tape that does not enhance patient care.
Help pharmacies to expand their role in primary care: Pharmacies could do more to support the delivery of primary care for example through offering clinical services
for long-term conditions - like hypertension, diabetes and respiratory disease, supporting people to adopt healthier lifestyles and prevent the development of
long-term conditions, medicines optimisation, and a much wider variety of NHS vaccinations.
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If you have recently been diagnosed with hearing loss, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. You are not alone - millions of people
around the world are living with hearing loss. The good news is that there are many resources available to help you learn how to manage your condition and live a
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HANDLING ISSUES FROM HEARING LOSS - HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY
Hearing loss is certainly a difficult obstacle to face in life, but it doesn't have to stop you from living a full and rich life. Of course, hearing loss comes with
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Professor Harry McQuillan has said community pharmacists in the UK must change their focus from an 'accuracy of supply' to a 'safety of supply' model when it
comes to dealing with patients.
"The main take away message from tonight's lecture is for pharmacy professionals to really challenge themselves about whether they are focused on accuracy of supply
or safety of supply," he said at this year's UCL School of Pharmacy Lecture in London on Thursday, 15 June.
"For our community pharmacists it must be about safety, including prescribing, and ensuring patients and citizens get the maximum benefit from prescribed medicines.
"To deliver this, we need to invest in our teams - harness technology and always be willing to take the next step in a more clinical future."
The Chief Executive Office of Community Pharmacy Scotland, however, noted that at a time when the UK was grappling with an unprecedented national debt crisis
exacerbated by severe cost of living and spiraling inflation, community pharmacy will need to make a "compelling case" of where the priority should be in the sector.
Expanding on the financial woes of the country, he compared the current national debt of the UK, which stood at a staggering 270 percent of GDP in September 2022,
with the previous record-breaking national debt of 250 per cent at the end of WWII.
"Discussions must involve the government on behalf of NHS Scotland, CPS on behalf of the owners, and the PDA as the pharmacists' representative," it said.
The association believes that there is a need for discussion and decision-making that listens to and balances the rights and responsibilities of both employers
and workers, to generate benefits for individuals, organisations, and society.
It added: "Even though Scotland provides the most generous community pharmacy settlement in the UK, recent reports suggest it is not enough for pharmacy owners
with CPS's rejection of the latest funding proposal in May. Though the Scottish government found an extra £20M to ease pressures related to medicines price
increases, an overall agreement has still not been reached."
"The UK-wide chains may be doing less well in the parts of their networks covered by the Westminster government's contract, but the taxpayers and government of
Scotland need to be given reassurance that they are in no way subsidising funding shortfalls in England's pharmacy contract."
Recently, when LloydsPharmacy's Scotland branches recently came on the market, they appear to have been sold exclusively to existing contractors, including the
UK-wide multiple, Rowlands Pharmacy, who have acquired 30 of them. Other small and medium-sized Scottish pharmacy chains have apparently been able to double in
size overnight by acquiring branches.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have authorised community pharmacies
throughout the UK to dispense original full packs of Valproate-containing medicines upon prescription.
The necessary changes in regulations came into effect on 11 October which was strongly supported by 85 per cent of respondents concerned about risks to the
unborn baby if valproate-containing medicines are used in pregnancy.
The decision was made to ensure patients receive safety warnings and pictograms, including a patient card and the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL), contained
in the manufacturer's original full pack.
Valproate is a treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder but is also associated with birth defects and neurological disabilities.
It was a night filled with anticipation and excitement, and the atmosphere was electric with a sense of achievement and pride.
The 23rd annual Pharmacy Business Awards had the honour of hosting the distinguished Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, who
served as the event's chief guest.
The event took place on 4 October at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, located on the South Bank of the River Thames, right across from the Houses of Parliament.
There was a gathering of 600 guests, impeccably attired by the dress code, which added to the festive atmosphere.
In his keynote speech, Labour MP Streeting said the NHS, which marked its 75th anniversary in July, could once again become the "envy of the world".
The proposed increase in the national living wage (NLW) is expected to impose an implementation cost of £150 million to £195 million on the community
pharmacy sector, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has warned. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recently announced a 9.8 per cent increase in the national living wage,
raising it from £10.42 to £11.44.
"The Autumn Statement overlooks the knock-on effects these measures will have on small businesses like community pharmacies," CPE Chief Executive Janet Morrison
said in a statement. "The majority of pharmacies employ staff on or around the NLW, which has increased nearly 40 per cent since the start of the current contractual
framework."
"This is at a time when pharmacies have faced a 30 per cent real terms reduction in funding since 2015," Morrison added. "No viable business can absorb these cost
increases without significant support. This is just another cost pressure that pharmacies cannot control and must be addressed through a sustainable, long-term
funding arrangement."
NHS England delivered 358 million general practice (GP) appointments, including Covid-19 vaccinations, in the 12 months to October 2023, an increase
of 50.9 million compared to October 2019.
This equals to 44 more appointments per practice per working day, with over 70 per cent of these taking place within two weeks of booking, data published by
NHSE on Thursday (30 November) showed.
Health Minister, Andrea Leadsom, thanked GPs and primary care teams across the country for making it possible to deliver around 32,500 more appointments
every day, which clearly demonstrate that "more people are getting the care they need, when they need it."
"While this is positive news, we know that there is more to do to make it easier and quicker for patients to contact their general practice and continue to
focus on delivering the Primary Care Recovery Plan," she added.
The Primary Care Recovery Plan published earlier this year is focused on improving access to primary care. It provided GPs in England with £240 million to
support them to embrace the latest technology to tackle the 8am rush, and handle more appointments.
As of August 2023, more than 1,000 general practices had signed up to digital upgrades to make booking GP appointments easier.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has announced that it will support its member impacted by the decision to close 300 more Boots pharmacies.
After the announcement of closure of 300 Boots pharmacies over the next year, the association believes this is approximately one out of every eight current
Boots pharmacy locations.
The company has insisted that the objective of this exercise is not to make existing pharmacist employees redundant, and they hope to be able to redeploy
individuals into nearby alternative locations. However, PDA believes that it is unlikely that suitable alternative roles will be available for all and
redundancy is a possibility for some.
The PDA Union will provide pharmacists with information, support, and representation as part of the recognition agreement so that members are aware of and
can exercise their rights at work. PDA officials will be in continued dialogue with the company throughout this closure programme.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) today (19 October) issued its official response to an evaluation conducted by an independent expert panel
from the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) regarding government commitments in the pharmacy sector.
The joint agreement between DHSC, NHSE, and CPE (Community Pharmacy England) under a five-year plan commitment to review the funding model, however, the current
status is "continue to monitor and discuss progress".
The government has claimed that the panel's rating has "not been met" and still "requires improvement".
However, the funding "remains subject to affordability and consultation with the sector on the activity that can be delivered within that funding envelope".
MP Steve Brine, the chair of the health and care committee, said that the healthcare in the UK "doesn't work without pharmacy".
The inquiry focuses on addressing current issues, particularly around the "funding model, digital infrastructure and workforce recruitment, training and retention."
Brine said at the Sigma annual conference on Sunday, that he wants to "focus on the sector", and "drill down into some of the challenges and potential" that lies
ahead.
"The Health and Social Care Committee, we think about much of our work through the lens of pharmacy, what role it plays, the quality of care that it delivers, and
the potential for it to do more," said Brine.
He further said that he wants to "build on the groundwork" and to "cover as many of the different pharmacy services within the pharmacy sector as we can, so pharmacy
in our communities, in hospitals and general practice".
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) CEO, Janet Morrison said that the negotiations for the £645 million investment pledged to community pharmacies in 2023-25
have concluded.
The government's primary care recovery plan is to be announced in a "few weeks" and negotiations for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) from April
2024 will begin.
She said: "We have finished the substantive discussions on the recovery plan but detailed discussions about implementation are ongoing and we are awaiting final
clearance from the Government and the NHS.
"We hope that we will be in a position to make an announcement in the next few weeks and that negotiations on the CPCF from April 2024 will commence soon after
that."
Morrison reminded attendees that the Primary Care Recovery Plan is "to improve access to primary care by investing £645 million over the remainder of the year".
A total of 37 more cases of monkeypox have been detected in England and Scotland, public health officials said on Monday, taking the total to 57.
Thirty-six confirmed cases were found in England, and one north of the border, the UK Health Security Agency and Public Health Scotland said.
The UKHSA said it was now advising high-risk contact cases of confirmed cases who have not tested positive or developed symptoms to isolate for up to 21 days.
It has also bought supplies of smallpox vaccine, which is being offered to close contacts to reduce the risk of symptomatic infection and severe illness.
Chief medical adviser Susan Hopkins said contact tracing was helping to limit the close-contact spread of the virus, which causes a chickenpox-like rash.
"Because the virus spreads through close contact, we are urging everyone to be aware of any unusual rashes or lesions and to contact a sexual health service if they have any symptoms," she added in a statement.
The national pharmacy bodies has created 'Save Our Pharmacies' campaign website to give new focus to calls for fair pharmacy funding in England.
The newly launched site contains key messages for public, politicians and stakeholders, and hosts campaign resources to be used by pharmacy teams.
The pharmacy bodies encourage members of the public and pharmacy teams to show their support for the campaign on social media, as well as signing the petition
and contacting their local MPs about fair funding.
A further resource in the form of a window poster is being printed and will shortly be mailed out to all community pharmacies in England.
It is the latest output of a joint programme of work being coordinated by PSNC, CCA, AIM and the NPA.
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An executive director of Day Lewis and also board director and member of Association of Independent Multiple pharmacies (AIMp) Jay Patel highlighted the key
issues and on ground challenges faced by the community pharmacies in a meeting hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and health secretary Steve Barclay in Downing
Street on Saturday (January 7) to tackle the NHS pressure.
In his interview with BBC, he said: "He (prime minister) was very engaging and trying to understand the key issues and practical challenges on the ground."
Patel described the meeting atmosphere as 'collaborative and proactive', and said, "people were genuinely asked their options and there were listeners too."
On BBC, answering to a question on 'how community pharmacies can alleviate the NHS pressure?', Patel said: "Pharmacies is the workplace for this. We have trust of
our patients; we have high skilled workforce both clinically and professionally. One of the opportunities we have is working around the acute treat