NHS England has urged the pharmacy owners to continue to voluntarily submit New Medicine Service (NMS) quarterly summary data to the NHS Business Services
Authority (NHSBSA) for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022/23 (January to March 2023).
Community Pharmacy England have agreed with NHS England that the quarterly returns will continue to be on a voluntary basis, with Q4 (January to March 2023) as the
second quarter to be reported.
It has thanked all the members that submitted NMS quarterly summary data for Quarter 3.
The mandatory requirement to submit this data has been suspended since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"NHS England wants to continue collection of the quarterly returns to provide baseline data to support a long-term evaluation that will be conducted as part of
ongoing work to expand the scope of NMS," said Community Pharmacy England.
Voluntary submissions can be made via the NHSBSA website, where an updated reporting spreadsheet is also available for head offices to use who are able to submit
data on behalf of multiple pharmacies.
Bristol-based Titan PMR, a technology firm specialising in PMR systems for community pharmacies, is set to roll out an innovative platform named 'Titanverse,'
that it claims will redefine pharmacy management, offering comprehensive solutions extending beyond prescription management.
This new platform takes a versatile approach, efficiently managing all facets of pharmacy operations, from high-level management down to daily tasks, according to
top company officials.
"Our aim is to reshape pharmacies into genuine health hubs, providing advanced services and harnessing state-of-the-art technologies," said Tariq Muhammad, CEO of
Titan PMR. "Titanverse, our latest offering, is positioned to ignite this transformation, revolutionising clinical services in the same way its predecessor
revolutionised dispensing. With Titanverse, we have the vehicle to drive this vision forward, placing pharmacies at the forefront of primary care in the future."
Titanverse adopts a Teams approach, catering to pharmacies with multiple locations or specific focuses. It furnishes real-time analytics and employs a color-coded
rating system for swift performance evaluation.
Moreover, the platform eases operations by enabling task delegation, encompassing clinical checks and dispensing, all while backing private services with adaptable
templates and workflows.
Boots UK's chief pharmacist has been encouraging people to get a flu vaccination by the end of November to help protect themselves, their loved ones and the
NHS this festive season.
Flu cases in the UK are usually highest in the winter months, from December to March. This year, the UK has seen a rise in cases earlier than usual, and therefore
Claire Nevinson, superintendent pharmacist at Boots, reminds people that it is even more important to get protected early to help reduce the risk of spreading the
virus due to increased mixing at Christmas parties and family get togethers.
Approximately 33 million people are eligible for the free NHS flu jab, including those over 50 years of age, pregnant women and those with medical conditions such as
diabetes or heart disease.
The pharmacy multiple says it offers the winter flu jab service, which is suitable for those eligible for the free NHS flu jab as well as privately, adding that it
has already administered over one million flu vaccinations this season.
Ms Nevinson explains: "December is a time to get together with friends and family to celebrate the month's festivities. It's a good idea to plan ahead to ensure you
have your flu jab, and your COVID-19 booster vaccination if you are eligible, if you've not had them already, this the best way to protect yourself and reduce the
risk of passing the viruses to others.
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Lo's Pharmacy, a Yorkshire-based pharmacy chain is adopting a new approach to hub and spoke in a first of a kind model to be used in the UK.
The pharmacy will centralise its repeat prescription dispensing service for original packs with the support of its medication wholesaler.
The independent group, which has 25 NHS community pharmacies across Yorkshire, will install Centred Solution's Automated FLOWRx Hub product at its central dispensing
facility in Wath-Upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire.
But unlike other FLOWRx customers, who pick packs from a robotic dispensing system or internal warehouse, Lo's Pharmacy will receive patient-specific flow totes
directly from their wholesaler which can then be processed by their hub.
This workflow has not been used anywhere else in the country until now and it is a revolutionary approach to hub and spoke dispensing, showing what can be achieved
when key players decide to collaborate. It further demonstrates that there are range of variations of hub and spoke models available and accessible to independent
and multiple community pharmacies across the UK.
The leading pharmacy bodies have come together to launch the 'Save Our Pharmacies' campaign which highlights the pressure and untapped potential of the sector.
Pharmacy bodies- Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), Company Chemists' Association (CCA), National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) have agreed to work together on a programme of activities to lobby for fair NHS funding for pharmacies in England, including
co-ordinating efforts to mobilise public support.
The campaign will focus on highlighting both the pressures that pharmacies are under and the huge untapped potential of the sector - including to offer a Pharmacy
First service - if appropriate resourcing is made available.
Mark Lyonette, NPA Chief executive, said: "Together we will be cranking up the noise to persuade Government and NHS to make the right choices and back the community
pharmacy sector with decent funding. Maintaining patient and public support is critical to our campaigning success, so this will be a key focus in the months ahead.
Our joint message is very clear: pharmacies can help get the NHS back on its feet, but not while the sector itself is on its knees."
The pharmacy bodies will develop shared resources for effective parliamentary lobbying and mobilising public opinion, in the face of chronic underfunding that
threatens further pharmacy closures. They will also work hard to show off the value of pharmacy and to continue pushing for a fully funded Pharmacy First service.
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The community pharmacy bodies, along with England's largest pharmacy chains, have urged the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak to resolve fund and workforce crisis
in the sector.
In the joint letter the Chief Executives of Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), Company Chemists' Association (CCA), National Pharmacy Association
(NPA) and Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), along with Boots, Lloydspharmacy, Well and Rowlands Pharmacy, said they are pleased to see Government
now recognising the key role that community pharmacy' could have in alleviating the strain on other NHS services.
However, the associations also warn that although the sector is ready to support, 'this will not be possible unless pharmacy is properly funded.'
Janet Morrison, PSNC Chief Executive, said: "The Prime Minister should also know that community pharmacies are also facing a crisis. They need sustainable investment,
urgently, if we are to avoid devasting consequences for pharmacies and for their patients."
The letter calls on Government to help pharmacy to resolve the funding, workforce and capacity issues engulfing the sector. It said: "Community pharmacies are in
crisis and after 7 years of 30% funding cuts have reached their limit."
Novartis on Wednesday (February 1) predicted that core operating income would grow in a "mid single digit" percentage range in 2023 following stagnation last
year, as the Swiss drugmaker prepares to spin off its Sandoz generics business.
Full-year core operating income was broadly flat at $16.7 billion, it said in a statement, coming in slightly below market expectations of $16.8 billion.
Adjusted for overall negative currency effects, group sales in 2022 advanced 4 per cent to $50.5 billion as gains from heart failure drug Entresto and multiple
sclerosis (MS) drug Kesimpta were partly offset by competition from cheap generic copies of established MS drug Gilenya.
Novartis said it was on track to spin off its generics unit Sandoz in the second half of the year as part of its effort to sharpen its focus on its patented
prescription medicines.
Analysts have welcomed a programme unveiled in 2022 to trim costs and cut 8,000 jobs and plans to focus on fewer therapy areas and drug technologies. But the market
has been underwhelmed by prospects for medium-term growth from new drugs.
National pharmacy bodies have called on the government and NHS leaders to take appropriate action to keep pharmacy teams safe from violence and abuse.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - in collaboration with the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), the Company Chemists'
Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) - is supporting an important petition started by Mike Hewitson,
a community pharmacy contractor, who has been threatened with stabbing and robbed in his own pharmacy.
The PSNC and the other national pharmacy bodies strongly believe that no healthcare professional should have to deal with this, that and pharmacists and their teams
should be better protected.
It said: "Community pharmacies play an integral role in the delivery of primary care and most patients are highly appreciative of the hard work of local pharmacists
and pharmacy teams from dispensing medicines and administering vaccines to providing medical advice and health monitoring services.
Boots has expanded its partnership with Deliveroo to cover 125 stores in the UK, offering delivery of a wide range of health and beauty products up and down
the country.
The company announced last year that it had entered into an exclusive partnership with Deliveroo to provide 400 plus health and beauty products to consumers at their
doorsteps.
The pharmacy multiple has been delivering over-the-counter cough, cold and flu symptom relief products, paracetamol, vitamins and digital thermometers through
Deliveroo.
The partnership has been part of the business' continued investment in digital technology to provide customers with a more convenient and personal shopping experience.
Popular and new products available on Deliveroo include cough, cold and flu symptom relief products, paracetamol, vitamins, digital thermometers, period and sexual
wellbeing products including sanitary towels, condoms and pregnancy tests among other health and beauty products.
Boots is now available via Deliveroo for the first time to customers in major cities including Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Bristol, Sheffield, Coventry, Plymouth,
Exeter, Middlesbrough, York, Aberdeen and Inverness.
The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) and senior official of NHS Property Services (NHSPS) had a meeting on August 18 to review the rent
policy for health centre pharmacies.
Earlier, the association had sent a letter to NHSPS that was signed by pharmacies from across the sector, including single independents, pharmacy groups and members
of the Company Chemists' Association.
The letter outlined concerns about rent reviews and the impact of it on the co-located health centre pharmacies.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of AIMp, said: "We outlined that whilst in the past, the norm established by the industry, was to base rents for co-located pharmacies
primarily based on patient list size, (and taking account of a few other factors), the industry now needs to revise the basis on which rents are determined for
co-located pharmacies."
The association, on behalf of the pharmacy sector, met the CEO of NHSPS and two of their senior directors (director or property management and their finance director).
Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and
secondary care in England.
The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan
told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and
people were dying."
Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that
pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly".
The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a
report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding.
"We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph.
"It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."
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Pharmacy bodies and MPs discussed on support needed to unlock the "full potential" of community pharmacy at the All Pharmacy Party Group (APPG)'s general
meeting held in Westminster on Tuesday (01 November).
The attendees of the meeting were Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee; Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of The
Company Chemists' Association; Thorrun Govind, Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society; Sanjeev Panesar, National Pharmacy Association Board Member, and Pharmacist
Superintendent and Owner of the Pan Pharmacy Group; and Sandeep Dhami, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies member and superintendent at MW Phillips Chemist
At the session, 18 parliamentarians were briefed on the myriad of ways pharmacies contribute to the health of the nation.
The panel of experts also highlighted that pharmacists are 'running out of fuel' with the growing challenges such as flat funding, workforce shortages and the
cost-of-living crisis impacting pharmacies' ability to deliver vital services.
"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) has invited views of healthcare professionals and others to tackle the six major health conditions which
drive-ill health and contribute to the burden of disease in England.
The six major health conditions - cancer; cardiovascular diseases including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill-health and
musculoskeletal disorders - affect millions of people in England with data showing that one in four suffer from two or more of these major long-term conditions.
Recognising the pressure these conditions are putting on the NHS, the government is seeking views on a new strategy to tackle them that will focus not only on
treatment but also on prevention.
Government is particularly interested in hearing from those who suffer from, care for or provide treatment to people who suffer from multiple long-term conditions.
This is to ensure the Major Conditions Strategy is one that will better prevent, diagnose, manage and treat these conditions.
Contributions are also encouraged from those working in NHS bodies, local government, the voluntary and community sector, and wider industry, on how best to tackle
suffering from one or more of these major conditions. Particularly, it is seeking perspectives on how government and the NHS can work better together with different
organisations and sectors to improve the nation's health.
In response to new research that revealed inequality in menopause support with 51 per cent of women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds,
Holland & Barrett, the UK's leading health and wellness retailer, has decided to continue its menopause campaign work to make "every menopause matter".
A quarter of women (26 per cent) from minority ethnic communities say they find it difficult to access menopause support relevant to their specific backgrounds.
Alongside support from Olympian and menopause campaigner, Michelle Griffith Robinson and expert, Meera Bhogal, the retailer is launching several new initiatives
to make its information and support on menopause more inclusive by offering more diverse and personalised advice and content, tailored to different needs.
Almost a third (31 per cent) believe being able to speak to a female healthcare professional of the same ethnicity as them would have made a difference to their
menopause experience. Fifteen per cent go as far as saying that communicating in their native language would have made a positive difference.
Based on these findings, Holland and Barrett is the first retailer to launch a free, multi-language menopause online consultation service. The service will
see trained H&B menopause advisors offering guidance and symptom support in multiple languages, starting with Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Punjabi.
Charac, an NHS-integrated one-stop platform for independent community pharmacies, has secured £1 million strategic investment from the Royal Mail Group,
enabling its time-saving platform to assist more local pharmacies and patients across the UK to easily manage their prescriptions and consultations online.
The company said this new money will enable it to leverage strong levels of trust that pharmacists enjoy within the communities they serve in and will ensure
pharmacies remain a cornerstone of vibrant high streets and an invaluable provider of frontline healthcare products and services, including vitally needed
consultations.
Charac says it is aiming to sign up over 1,000 UK pharmacies in the next 12 months by expanding its geographic footprint beyond current cities, including London,
Manchester and Birmingham, and targeting small multiple and independent pharmacies, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the UK's community pharmacy network.
The announcement also sees the addition of Stefan Kulik, a managing director at Royal Mail, to the Charac board. Stefan is responsible for leading Royal Mail's
expansion into the healthcare industry and brings a breadth of experience, having previously worked in healthcare with companies including Johnson & Johnson.
Pharmacy bodies have urged the Health Select Committee to hold the government to account on pharmacy funding and workforce challenges.
In a show of unity, leaders from the sector came together to write a joint letter to the chair of the committee and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and bring to
his attention how financial pressures worsened by nearly a decade of a real-term decrease in funding have made the sector virtually untenable.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s recently published 'Pharmacy Pressures Survey' confirms how this has had an impact on pharmacy contractors,
their teams as well as patients.
The survey found that 91 per cent of pharmacies are experiencing staff shortages. At the same time, demand for community pharmacists has risen - nine in ten pharmacy
teams reported a significant increase in phone calls from patients about prescriptions, and 86 per cent reported a rise in requests for healthcare advice.
The letter to Jeremy Hunt is signed on behalf of the four chief executives of the PSNC, the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), the Company
Chemists' Association (CCA) and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
