Group items tagged

Amid the ongoing furore over shortages of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits that led pharmacy staff to bear customers' wrath, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Company Chemists Association (CCA) have jointly appealed the public to be "patient and courteous to pharmacy teams". In an open letter, the two organisations have urged patients and customers to be patient, courteous and safe while visiting their local pharmacies. Highlighting the efforts put in by healthcare workers to keep everyone safe through this tough winter, the two organisations said the pressure of Covid-19 and shortage of LFD kits have sometimes led to verbal abuse of pharmacy staff. Mark Lyonette, NPA chief executive said: "The vast majority of pharmacy customers and patients are polite and understanding. The supply situation with Lateral Flow Tests is stretching people's patience, but that's no excuse for abusive behaviour and people need to understand the constraints on pharmacy teams at this time." Alongside their routine job of providing medicines, health advice and a range of NHS services, pharmacies have put in extra effort to protect people during the pandemic.

Community pharmacies played a central role in the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering more than 22 million jabs in the past 12 months. Besides delivering millions of jabs, latest figures from NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) revealed a 50 per cent increase in the number of pharmacies delivering Covid boosters compared from October 2021 to January 2022. NHSE&I released the data on Friday (January 14) to thank community pharmacy teams for their work during the crisis time. Lauding the efforts made by community pharmacy teams during the pandemic, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) director of NHS Services Alastair Buxton said: "Just over a year ago we were fighting for Government recognition of the part community pharmacy could play in administering Covid vaccines, so a year later it is great to see the efforts of the pharmacy vaccination sites being praised by NHSE&I, with recognition of the significant role they have played in the overall programme.

Pharmacy Business will be hosting their annual awards event in the pharmacy calendar with a glittering ceremony to celebrate the very best of community pharmacy. The 23rd edition of the Pharmacy Business Awards will be on Wednesday 4 October 2023 in central London. The awards attract the biggest names in pharmacy, with heads of pharmacy organisations, CEOs of leading manufacturers and wholesalers, health officials and government ministers in attendance. We look forward to bringing together the shining lights of community pharmacy, who show the nation the unique services they continue to provide. All entries must be made on the official online entry form. Please select from the award categories by expanding the drop-down boxes below then click 'Enter now' by selecting the category you would like to enter. You can enter three categories. To complete your entry, agree to the terms and conditions then click the 'COMPLETE' button at the bottom of the page. All submissions must be made by Monday 7th July 2023. Please note only submitted entries will proceed to the judging stage. Nomination date 7th july 2023

Boots has welcomed job applications from LloydsPharmacy staff impacted by the news of closure of all its branches located in Sainsbury's before the end of 2023. The company is recruiting for more than 1,500 pharmacy roles nationwide. Vacancies span pharmacy roles at all levels - from Pharmacy Advisors (Dispensers) and Trainee Pharmacists to experienced Pharmacists looking to develop their careers. Sebastian James, Managing Director of Boots UK & ROI, said: "Pharmacies deliver vital healthcare in the heart of communities. News of the closure of LloydsPharmacy branches within Sainsbury's stores will no doubt have an impact on many talented pharmacists as well as their patients. "We have many roles available at Boots and welcome applications from LloydsPharmacy employees affected by the closures. Patients who are worried about their future pharmacy provision can check our store locator online to find out where their nearest Boots store is - our pharmacy team members are ready to help." There are over 2,200 Boots stores across the UK and 85% of the population live within 10 minutes of a Boots store.

Increased demand and shortages of lateral flow tests are pushing staff at pharmacies to bear the brunt from frustrated customers who are unable to get their free lateral flow tests, Daily Mail reported. Some Britons claimed that they have been unable to get lateral flow tests at their local pharmacies for up to a fortnight while some pharmacies were forced to put up sign warning stating they have run out of free tests. Given the patchy supply of test kits, pharmacy bosses warned that staff are facing 'unfair' and 'abusive' behaviour by customers, the newspaper reported.Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP), told the newspaper: "Up until yesterday the supply to pharmacies was still patchy. The past few days the situation has not improved. "Pharmacies are having to put up with a lot of abuse and aggressive behaviours by members of the public because of this situation which is unfair. "The demand is still very high now because the governments guidelines put a lot of emphasis on testing as a key out of self isolation, so naturally as Omicron cases are high people are reliant on tests to get on with daily life."

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has expressed concerns over Boots UK's decision to reduce supplemental opening hours at some pharmacies. The association stated: "Some pharmacists and other staff at Boots are being notified this week of changes to opening hours at their place of work, with local briefings taking place. The PDA are supporting their members to deal with any potential impact on their employment." It said that reducing pharmacy opening hours would affect patients' access to a trusted healthcare professional, especially if it is being done by the largest community pharmacy multiple. It even called upon the NHS to adequately fund community pharmacies to ensure they remain open when patients and local communities need their services. Meanwhile, Boots management has informed PDA that most of its employees are not pharmacists, and "less pharmacists are expected to be directly impacted by these changes than other colleagues," PDA said.

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.

Ahead of the launch of UK's first state-of-the-art automated hub for independent community pharmacists, HubRx has announced the appointment of Karl Wooldridge as operations director and Matthew Tollefson as chief financial officer. Karl brings more than 14 years of sector experience to his new role with HubRx. Having begun his career as an independent community pharmacist, Karl has gone on to hold key roles within pharmacy automation, including managing Phoenix Medical Supplies' offsite dispensing service. Commenting on his appointment, Karl said: "I'm delighted to have joined the team. The pandemic has further highlighted the important role pharmacists can play in keeping the nation healthy, not least in the delivery of the latest vaccination programme. The focus is now on pharmacists offering more clinical services, but to be able to achieve that the dispensing burden needs to be reduced. "HubRx is pioneering, our approach will transform community pharmacy. We're investing in cutting-edge technology to create an automated dispensing hub that will create capacity for pharmacists, allow them to grow and expand their skills." Matthew joins from Leeds-based corporate finance firm, Sentio Partners having also held positions with Mazars and Ernst & Young.

Nearly 9,000 pharmacy contractors benefitted from earlier advance payment in January, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said in an update. Contractors who declared their December FP34C submission figures (for the dispensed prescriptions) through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by January 6, would have received earlier advance payments on January 12. Meanwhile, all contractors who made submissions after January 6 or used the FP34C paper document, will receive payments as per the normal payment schedule i.e. on February 1, 2022. PSNC encouraged contractors to submit their monthly declaration through the MYS portal by the 5th of the month to avail early payments.

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.