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).
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is encouraging community pharmacy contractors and their teams to take part in the negotiator's latest Pharmacy Advice Audit.
The audit has been extended but results must be submitted by 23.59 on Friday (March 11).
Under the audit, pharmacy teams need to record information about the informal healthcare advice that they give in a single day, which would provide a critical check on how people continue to rely on community pharmacies.
The results of the audit will provide key evidence for use in funding discussions with the government and the NHS.
Last year's Advice Audit highlighted the scale of the informal consultations that took place in pharmacies during the pandemic, and helped the PSNC to persuade MPs to support the case for Covid-19 costs.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is gearing up to conduct a vital Pharmacy Advice Audit, calling on pharmacy owners and their teams to help measure the
increasing reliance on pharmacies within communities.
With years of financial strains impacting the sector, despite the much-needed £645 million recovery plan funding, the sector finds itself on the edge.
The launch of Pharmacy First sparked a notable surge in people seeking advice from community pharmacies, both within and beyond the funded service, as revealed
by recent sector polling.
To accurately assess this trend and advocate for sustainable funding, CPE is initiating an audit to gather data crucial for showcasing the extent of unfunded
care provided by community pharmacies.
Scheduled to commence this week, the Pharmacy Advice Audit will entail pharmacy teams documenting informal healthcare advice dispensed over a single day.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has confirmed that the community pharmacy contractors are 'not required' to undertake a
contractor-chosen or an NHS England determined clinical audit in 2023/24.
"A clinical audit on anticoagulants is included in the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2023/24. If contractors choose to not participate in PQS, and therefore do
not complete the anticoagulant clinical audit, there is still no requirement to complete two clinical audits in 2023/24," said PSNC.
"The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have also committed to consider, during 2023/24, the removal of the requirement for a contractor-chosen
clinical audit permanently."
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is encouraging community pharmacy contractors to participate in its third Pharmacy Advice Audit due
to be held in the week commencing Monday (January 31).
The audit is aimed to demonstrate how pharmacies support their communities every day and assist PSNC in gathering evidence for use in the funding discussions with the government and the NHS.
It said that last year's Advice Audit provided compelling evidence for use in negotiations with the government and helped in persuading MPs to support the case for Covid-19 costs.
PSNC said: "We would therefore be very grateful to anyone able to take part in this year's audit."
To ease pressure on community pharmacies, the deadline to meet the requirements of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme will be extended, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced today (December 15).
This follows an agreement reached between the negotiator and the NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Recognising the challenges faced by pharmacies and their contribution towards the Covid-19 vaccination programme, following additional changes have been agreed upon:
Contractors will not be required to complete the Community Pharmacy Patient Questionnaire for 2021/2022;
The requirement for pharmacy teams to complete a national audit (intended to be on valproate) in 2021/22 will be waived; and
The requirement for pharmacy teams to complete a contractor-chosen clinical audit in 2021/22 will be waived.
The recent announcement that Royal Mail will be partnering with distance selling pharmacy (DSP) giant pharmacy2U highlights how standards of regulatory
enforcement are being ignored to accommodate the DSP model.
The brunt of these double standards hinges around the levelling down of temperature enforcement standards by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) which demands mapping must be audited from the point of dispensing to the patient.
The MHRA has a well recognised duty to ensure medicines reach patients in a safe condition. The current anomaly appears to turn a blind eye to this step in the
supply chain at the point the wholesaler releases goods to the pharmacy hub.
Equally the training on delivering medicines safely and effectively direct to patients should apply fully to all hubs including DSPs. Why is it that DSPs are being
treated differently to bricks and mortar pharmacies? It's essentially the same patients receiving the same medicines from the same wholesalers.
A further regulatory disparity exists around how parcels must be "tracked and signed for" to be reasonably certain medicines are delivered into the hand of the
intended recipient, as per existing regulations.
Clearly an untracked, unsigned package cannot be guaranteed to finish in the hands of the intended recipient.
There is a very real possibility that such omission could lead to community pharmacy closures which will, in turn, lead to unemployment and a reduction in the
care services. At a time when integrated care systems have just gone live, the removal of vital support services leading to further inequalities is the wrong
message for both providers and patients alike.
Community pharmacies saved nearly 20,000 lives up to autumn 2021 by vaccinating people against the Covid-19, the National Pharmacy Association said based on a National Audit Office (NAO) report released on Friday (February 25).
The report, having taken evidence from the NPA, highlighted that community pharmacies and GPs performed far beyond expectations in delivering the Covid-19 vaccine, as 71 per cent of jabs were administered by both healthcare providers till October-end, against an initial assumption of 56 per cent.
The report cited UK Health Security Agency figures, which estimated that the programme overall prevented up to 128,000 deaths and 262,000 hospitalisations by September 24 and September 19, respectively.
The estimated number is considerably higher, given the pivotal role played by pharmacies in this winter's phase of the vaccination programme, the NPA stated.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has launched a consultation on changes to the quality assurance processes of pharmacy education and training.
In its consultation published on 4 April 2024, the pharmacy regulator has proposed four key changes to the procedures, including annual monitoring of all
pharmacy education providers, including pharmacy schools offering MPharm courses.
The annual audit will enable the GPhC "to identify and address concerns together with providers in a more timely, proportionate and systematic manner".
It is considering collecting yearly data, including feedback from students, trainees, supervisors and patients, from educational organisations.
The GPhC has also proposed defining clear lines of responsibility and criteria for determining whether to re-approve a course or qualification.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has suspended the membership of Novo Nordisk for two years due to serious breaches of its Code
of Practice.
The action was taken by the ABPI Board following an investigation and appeals process conducted by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA)
which found Novo Nordisk to be in breach of the ABPI Code of Practice, including Clause 2 which deals with actions "likely to bring discredit on, or reduce
confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry".
Having considered the case and requesting a further detailed audit of Novo Nordisk's compliance processes, the ABPI Board decided to suspend Novo Nordisk from ABPI
membership.
Susan Rienow, President-Elect, ABPI, said: "The ABPI Board has carefully considered the PMCPA's case report into Novo Nordisk and the subsequent audit of their
compliance procedures.
"The Board expressed significant concern about Novo Nordisk's compliance activities and the very serious issues identified. As a result, the ABPI Board have taken
the decision to suspend Novo Nordisk from ABPI membership.
The UK GDP Association has been established as a non-profit organisation, operating as a Community Interest Company (CIC), with a focus on providing a
broader support network, particularly for small and medium business enterprises and pharmacy wholesalers.
In addition to delivering commercially viable Good Distribution Practice (GDP) consultancy services for simple models with smaller budgets, the association aims
to function as a networking platform for Responsible Persons in the UK.
As members of the association, companies and individuals can gain multiple benefits that will add value to their business through access to knowledge, discounted
training, consultancy services, audit and inspection support, as well as resources like document templates for risk assessments, CAPA, deviations, and more.
Moreover, members can enjoy the benefit of a like-minded support network via a dedicated GDP community hub, providing a platform for discussions, seeking advice,
and fostering new relationships.
"Our mission is to ensure that patient safety, GDP compliance, and excellent quality is paramount in all organisations, regardless of budget," the company said.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has welcomed the Chancellor's announcement of a 5.5 percent pay increase for NHS pharmacists.
Following the acceptance of the NHS Pay Review Body's (PRB) recommendations, Chancellor Rachel Reeves shared the announcement in a speech to Parliament on 29 July.
She confirmed that the pay review bodies' recommendations for health and education for 2024-25 would be fully implemented.
Reeves' speech came alongside the release of her audit into public finances, a commitment she made shortly after the recent election.
The audit confirms that the recommendations from various PRBs, including those for NHS staff, doctors, dentists, teachers, and other public servants, have been
approved and will be acted upon.
"That is the right decision for the people who work in and most importantly the people who use our public services…giving hardworking staff the pay rise they
deserve while ensuring we can recruit and retain the people we need," Reeves announced.
Pharmanovia, a global pharmaceutical company has announced increased targets to divert 40 per cent of its air shipments to sea in 2023, and 75 per cent by the
end of 2028.
It has made the pledge as it revealed the significant progress made towards achieving its ambitious science-backed ESG initiatives in its new Sustainability Report.
Its industry-leading air-to-sea pilot scheme, which focused on its Spain-to-Australia freight route, cut an estimated 470,000kg in potential CO2 emissions in
2022 - reducing Scope 3 upstream transport emissions by 18 per cent.
This initiative demonstrates Pharmanovia's role as an industry leader on carbon reduction and follows a recent report which stated just 16 of 500 pharmaceutical
companies measured their entire Scope 3 emissions.
The new Sustainability Report reveals that the Scope 2 emissions decreasing by 13 per cent in 2022, due to lower direct electricity demand within the office space.
The company's packaging audit seeing a 52 per cent increase in the percentage of products packed with at least one fully recyclable component, up from 12% in 2021
to 64 per cent in 2022
Strong progress in an initiative which saw Pharmanovia set ESG goals all employees across its global offices as part of annual performance awards. Employees achieved
a 98 per cent completion rate of the compliance training, including ESG modules
In 2023, almost 14,000 people in England are estimated to have died due to excessive waits in emergency departments, averaging more than 260 deaths per week,
according to new figures from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).
The RCEM estimate is based on a large study of NHS patients published in the Emergency Medicine Journal in 2021, which found one excess death for every 72 patients
who spent eight to 12 hours in an A&E department.
Following a Freedom of Information audit of NHS trusts, the college has found that 65 per cent of people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E were patients waiting for
a hospital bed.
NHS data for England revealed that over 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in major emergency departments last year. Based on the RCEM calculation, this
indicates that over a million of those patients were waiting for a bed.
The number of people in England identified as at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has increased by over half a million within a year, according to
NHS figures.
Data released by the National Diabetes Audit on June 12 showed that 3.6 million people registered with a GP were found to have non-diabetic hyperglycaemia
(also known as pre-diabetes) in 2023, compared with 3.1 million people in 2022 - a notable 18 per cent increase or nearly 550,000 people.
Among those under 40 years old, the figures showed an increase of almost 25 per cent from 173,166 in 2022 to 216,440 in 2023.
People with non-diabetic hyperglycaemia have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, and they are at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases. Typically, this condition is detected through routine blood tests at GP surgeries.
Responding to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report that indicated that NHS England's Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) needs improvements, the Royal
College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has expressed concerns that the plan may not adequately address the needs of GPs.
Published in June 2023, the workforce plan estimated that the NHS's health workforce will need to grow from 1.4m full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in 2021-22 to
between 2.3m and 2.4m FTE workers in 2036-37, an increase of 65 per cent to 72 per cent.
However, the NAO report highlighted that the workforce modelling has significant weaknesses, including a complex design; manual adjustments; optimistic future
assumptions and limited public communication of their uncertainty; and modelling outputs that could not be fully replicated.
To improve the modelling, the report recommended exploring the uncertainty of these assumptions and considering potential outcomes if they do not materialize as
expected. Additionally, it suggested including full integration of the different parts of the modelling pipeline to minimise manual adjustments.
Global logistics company, JAS has received the Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA(H)) license from the UK's Medicine and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for its Pharma and Healthcare Division.
In a press release issued on Thursday (22 February), the company said that securing the license empowers its UK healthcare division to "seamlessly connect" with
its more than 40 GDP (Good Distribution Practice) certified overseas stations, strengthening its capabilities for handling pharmaceutical shipments.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the company boasts a team of over 7,000 professionals, with operations spanning over 100 countries.
Adrian Frodsham, Regional Director for JAS, said that they were granted the WDA(H) license after a "stringent audit process."
"JAS UK's pharma and healthcare division prides itself of offering innovative solutions for the international delivery of pharmaceutical products, further
enhancing the growth of our pre-established healthcare division," he added.