The Parliamentarians have called the government to urgently consider the short-term funding to stabilise the community pharmacy sector.
39 MPs and Peers from across the political spectrum have signed letters to the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay MP and raised their growing concern about the
pressures facing England's community pharmacies and the risks this poses to patient care and safety.
"Steve Barclay MP received correspondence from 23 Opposition MPs, with six Peers also signing a letter. Separately, 9 Conservative MPs also wrote to the Health
Secretary and up to 10 others have signalled their intention to write to the relevant Minister," said the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC).
The Parliamentarians acknowledged that pharmacies have the potential to do more to support the NHS and they called for the government to urgently consider a
commitment to working with the sector to create a fair and fit for purpose future funding model that ensures sustainability and properly funds pharmacies for what
they do.
All signatories also called for the introduction of a fairly-funded Pharmacy First service.
Department of Health of Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed that the Dexcom One Transmitter will be added to Part IXA of the March 2023 Drug Tariff.
"Previously, patients were advised to obtain the free-of-charge Dexcom One transmitters directly from the pharmacies, without a prescription, as the original
Drug Tariff application for the transmitter was unsuccessful," said the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)
It has raised concerns with DHSC and Dexcom that these distribution arrangements for transmitters are unacceptable because they result in extra unfunded activity
for community pharmacies.
Both, DHSC and Dexcom acted upon these concerns by agreeing to add the Dexcom One transmitter to the Drug Tariff from March 2023. At the same time, Dexcom One CGM
System (containing 1 sensor, 1 sensor applicator, 1 transmitter) will also be added to the March Drug Tariff.
Chair of the health and social care committee Steve Brine and England's chief pharmacist David Webb are among a raft of speakers who will be addressing
delegates at the 13th Annual Sigma Community Pharmacy Conference to be held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from Sunday (March 5).
Day I of the conference will also feature a Q&A session with PSNC CEO Janet Morrison and her lead negotiator Mike Dent, which will be presented as a live webinar
via YouTube for those unable to attend in person.
Sigma Pharmaceuticals has invited all interested community pharmacists and stakeholders in the UK to join the 90 minutes session by clicking this link.
Those joining the session will not only be able to listen to the Q&A session - which will run between 6.30PM and 8.00PM in UK on Sunday - but also ask questions to
the PSNC executives via a live YouTube chat.
Sigma says the operating landscape for community pharmacy has altered dramatically since it last held its 'away conference' in the Philippines in February 2020. The
role of the independents - post pandemic - has rapidly evolved and has now been recognised by the health secretary as playing a significant part in the health of
the nation.
The NHS on Sunday (January 30) expanded its Covid-19 vaccination programme to include vulnerable children aged five to 11 years.
Eligible children include those with diabetes, immunosuppression, learning disabilities, and other conditions as outlined by the UK Health Security Agency in the Green Book.
Additionally, children living with someone immunosuppressed will be eligible to get the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in line with advice issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
According to the NHS, there are around 500,000 eligible children in the latest cohort.
GP and deputy lead for NHS vaccination programme Dr Nikki Kanani, said: "We know vaccines give significant protection against severe illness from Covid - including the omicron variant, so it is important that our youngest and most at-risk get protected.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has expressed disappointment as the government continued to refuse to "a much-needed broader funding uplift" for the community pharmacies in England.
This follows conclusion of the first Annual Review of the progress of the five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) deal by PSNC, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSE&I).
"We remain deeply frustrated by government's refusal to agree a much-needed broader funding uplift for the sector, but we are determined to continue to look for
better ways forward for the sector throughout 2022 and beyond," said Bharat Patel, PSNC vice-chair, negotiating team member and an independent contractor.
Patel noted that despite some important wins such as recognition of key challenges faced by pharmacies, the commitment to consider these as part of our Year 4
negotiations, and agreement to take forward work on service fee and other regulatory changes, the PSNC is disappointed that the review did not lead to "immediate and tangible outcomes and improvements for contractors."
The negotiator had put forward data and analysis showing the capacity and cost constraints faced by pharmacies.
More than 9,300 pharmacy contractors would benefit from earlier advance payment in February, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said in an update.
Contractors who declared their January 2022 FP34C submission figures through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by February 5 will receive earlier advance payments
by today (February 10).
The statistics indicates nearly 2,000 contractors will not receive any earlier advance payment this month, either because their January declarations were submitted late or they used the paper FP34C submission document to make their declaration, PSNC said.
These contractors will receive their advance payments in accordance with the normal payment timetable i.e. on March 1.
The negotiator reminded contractors that from April 2022 MYS will be the only process to make monthly submissions.
The new Smoking Cessation Service (SCS) will commence on March 10, 2022, allowing community pharmacy contractors to register to provide the service on the NHS Business Services Authority's (NHSBSA) Manage Your Service (MYS) portal from March 1, 2022.
This is the second of the two new Advanced services to be introduced this financial year, after the Hypertension case-finding service, which were agreed outcomes from negotiations for Year 3 of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.
Since the service is an Advanced service, contractors are free to decide if they wish to provide it, as most would be busy completing work for the Pharmacy Quality Scheme 2021/22 alongside winter-related workload, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said.
Therefore, those who decide to start this service should consider the likelihood of receiving sufficient referrals to make provision of the service worthwhile, the PSNC said.
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 'SaveOurPharmacies' roundtable held on Tuesday (21 March) to discuss severe challenges faced by the community pharmacies in England witnessed the support
of 15 MPs.
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC); Andrew Lane, independent pharmacy owner and Chairman, National Pharmacy
Association (NPA) and Ian Strachan, independent pharmacy owner and Board Member, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIM) attended the summit, which
was chaired by Stephen Hammond MP, to brief MPs on the severe challenges facing the sector.
MPs in attendance were Stephen Hammond, Sally-Ann Hart, Peter Aldous, Anna Firth, Taiwo Owatemi, Bob Seely, Derek Thomas, David Rutley, Lilian Greenwood, Tulip
Siddiq, Hillary Benn, Sarah Olney, Christian Wakeford, Daisy Cooper (researcher) and Victoria Atkins (researcher)
The title of the event 'Community pharmacy's role in the Primary Care Recovery Plan' which is expected imminently, is set to include a variety of measures aimed at
helping primary care to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
PSNC has been pressing for the plan to include a fully-funded national Pharmacy First service as this is the best chance for getting significant additional funds
into community pharmacies.
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.
YouGov polling commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has revealed that majority of the people responding to the poll said
that they would be concern by the pharmacy closure in their locality.
The results show the extent of the public backing for a Pharmacy First approach - PSNC has been arguing that a fully-funded service would be beneficial for pharmacies,
patients and the wider NHS.
The poll witnessed 1,774 adults' participation from England. It showed 68 per cent of people agree that they would find it easier to seek health advice for common
conditions, such as skin conditions or indigestion, at a community pharmacy rather than a GP surgery. Only 11 per cent disagreed that this would be easier.
While 75 per cent of people agree that they would like to see community pharmacies offering more healthcare services such as treating urinary tract infections or
sore throats. Only 6 per cent strongly disagreed with this.
When asked how important, if at all, are the services provided by community pharmacies to them, their family, or community, 78 per cent indicted this was very
important. Only 14 per cent said this wasn't important.
77 per cent said they would be very concerned if the pharmacy they use most often were to close permanently. Only 19 per cent said they would not be very concerned.
Well Pharmacy is urging those eligible to take up the offer of a further Covid booster jab this spring.
Adults aged 75 years and over and anyone over 5 years old and are immunosuppressed - such as those who are undergoing chemotherapy or have had an organ
transplant - are entitled to have a further Covid booster jab from mid-April, said one of the UK's largest community pharmacy chains.
Taking part in the vaccination programme again, Well Pharmacy is encouraging people to book another booster as soon as they are contacted by the NHS - which
should be at least six months after their previous booster.
The national booking site for those eligible opens this week.
The jabs have been updated since the vaccines were introduced to now target newer strains of Covid-19, Well said in a press release issued on Wednesday, 5 April.
Thousands of people are still testing positive for Covid each week according to Government data, and - while hospitalisations are down - a large number of people
are still being hospitalised with Covid, so getting jabbed is as important as ever.
And the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently confirmed that hospital admissions last autumn highlighted that the risk of becoming
seriously ill from coronavirus was noticeably higher in people over 75.
Along with pharmacists, pharmacy technicians in England are now able to perform blood pressure checks as part of the Hypertension Case-Finding Service and
deliver the Smoking Cessation Service (SCS).
The government has amended Drug Tariff and includes the amendments to The Pharmaceutical Services (Advanced and Enhanced Services) (Amendment) (England) Directions
2023.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said: "The service specifications for both services are currently going through NHS England's publication
process; when these are published PSNC will alert contractors through their normal communication channels. PSNC resources for both of these services are also
currently being updated."
he Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA) and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Committee (PSNC) have urged the NHS England and the Department of
Health and Social Care (DHSC) to issue urgent communications requesting that all those involved in medicines supply do not hoard, stockpile or over-prescribe Strep
A antibiotics.
In a statement HDA said that the sudden spike in demand for antibiotics used for the treatment of Strep A has meant that there is not enough of these medicines in
the supply chain currently to meet this increased demand. As a result, wholesalers are working extremely hard with manufacturers to increase the supply of antibiotics.
It added: "As regards pricing, the prices charged to pharmacies by HDA wholesale distributors will directly reflect the increase in prices wholesalers are having
to pay for these medicines from manufacturers at the moment, in order to be able to continue supplying these medicines to pharmacies. This will be the case until
supply and demand are more in sync."
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.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Enhertu for people with advance breast cancer.
"There is not enough evidence yet to show how much longer people live with Enhertu compared with trastuzumab emtansine because the clinical trial is still ongoing.
This means the cost-effectiveness estimates are highly uncertain and Enhertu cannot be recommended for routine use in the NHS," said NICE.
The independent appraisal committee concluded that Enhertu could be cost-effective if further evidence from the ongoing trial and from NHS practice can show how much
longer people live with treatment.
Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE, said: "Today's draft guidance is good news for people with this type of advanced breast cancer, who often
experience severe and debilitating symptoms.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and NHS England have agreed that community pharmacy contractors will have to participate in one
mandatory national health campaign.
This campaign on weight management commenced from Tuesday (03 January) and will run until Sunday (29January).
PSNC said: "Pharmacies can be required to participate in up to six health campaigns at the request of NHS England per year (1st April to 31st March).
Pharmacies will be involved by displaying and distributing leaflets provided by NHS England.
In addition, pharmacies are required to undertake prescription-linked interventions on major areas of public health concern, such as encouraging smoking cessation.
"Contractors can order pharmacy specific posters, wallet cards ('info' cards with a QR code signposting people to the Better Health website and free tips and tools
to lose weight) and a dispenser for these cards on the Campaign Resource Centre website. A guidance leaflet to support community pharmacy teams' conversations with
patients is also available," said PSNC.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has raised concerns over the impact that high medicine price rises are having on contractor.
Recently, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has granted the final list of price concessions for December 2022. The latest additions bring the total
number of concessionary prices granted for the month of December to 198, surpassing the previous record of 159 granted in September 2022.
PSNC has heard from hundreds of community pharmacy contractors who are paying inflated prices for antibiotics used for the treatment of Strep A and who have rightly
been concerned about the lack of certainty around the final reimbursement prices for these medicines.
It added: "We welcomed the involvement of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to look into the pricing of antibiotics. But the number of reports we are
getting from contractors about medicines price rises are just not acceptable and this goes far beyond the antibiotic crisis."
A survey of over six thousands pharmacies has revealed that the community pharmacy sector is buckling under growing cost and capacity pressures.
The survey conducted by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which also involved two thousand community pharmacy confirms, rising costs, patient
demand and
medicine supply issues continue to grip the sector.
PSNC's 2023 Pharmacy Pressures Survey, run as a follow up to the 2022 pressures survey, provides clear comparative data showing the worsening situation across
the sector.
Govt must act now
The result of the survey indeed paints a bleak picture for community pharmacies and it is clear that without urgent action from government and the NHS this will
only get worse: more community pharmacies will either be forced to reduce the number of services they provide or, in the worst-case scenario, will be left with
no option but to close their doors for good.
The PSNC has urged the government to act now "to save our pharmacies, before it is too late for patients, the public, and the rest of the NHS".
"This year's survey clearly shows that community pharmacies are buckling under growing cost and capacity pressures," said PSNC Chief Executive Janet Morrison.
What will it take to get help from the government before an individual or sector breaks? Pharmacists raised questions after the Pharmaceutical Services
Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s 2023 Pharmacy Pressures Survey confirmed the ongoing pressures and health issues faced by the pharmacies.
Pharmacists are not all shocked by the PSNC's survey report as they feel the same as what has been reported related to their businesses and health. They hope
the government listens and work with them to find resolutions.
"We are bullied into a corner," said Salim Jetha Chairman, Avicenna.
"Unlike other industries, we can't increase our prices. Most of the daily calls I get from Independents is about financial health of their business and any cost
cutting would be detrimental to patient care. Urgent holistic review is required."
Bristol pharmacist Ade Williams said: "The report is a dire indictment, and I would also warn, likely an underestimate of the extent and detrimental impact of the
ongoings pressures and squeeze on Community pharmacies."
"If the closest interface of the NHS to communities and patients is so distressed, what does that mean for those that need and depend on us? We are notoriously very
stoic, so this is a warning light, which, taken with workforce pressures, market-exit activity, and other reports raising concern about wellbeing and stress, must
beg the question; what will it take to get help before the sector and individuals break?" he questioned.
The survey results don't surprise Kent-based community pharmacist Amish Patel. He said, "I have been feeling exactly what has been reported for far too long. I'm
burnt out and would say beginning to suffer with my own health because of it. Now it's for PSNC to talk to government, and government to listen and work with us to
find resolutions."