The Department of health has published a guide to the new healthcare system. The document clearly describes the new healthcase system and the main bodies which operate within it.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published "Medicines Optimisation: helping patients maje the most of medicines", providing four guiding principles to help front-line professionals in England support patients to improve their quality of life and outcomes from better use of medicines.

The latest weekly e-communication from the Area Team of NHS England has been received.

As you may be aware NHS 111 will be the new 24 hours a day, 365 days a year helpline for urgent health needs. It is not a replacement for 999, or a patient contacting their own practice direct. It will however replace NHS Direct at the end of June 2013.

Copies of the Contracts and specifications have now been received for Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council.

NICE is currently seeking to recruit a Chair and members of a guidance development group (GDG) for the production of NICE good practice guidance on managing medicines in care homes.
All applications need to be submitted by 5pm Monday 20 May

4th April 2013 - Following the changes within the NHS we would like to introduce the new Pharmacy Area Team at NHS England (the name has just been changed from the NHS Commissioning Board) that community pharmacies will deal with.

The launch of the MUR plus will take place on 20th June 2013 and will be open to all pharmacies in Plymouth that are currently working towards Healthy Living Pharmacy status. The speaker will be diabetologist consultant Mr Patrick English (NHS Plymouth Hospital Trust).

Pharmacy was given until July 2013 to complete their first waste audits, and many of you will also know that PSNC has been developing an audit tool, to make this as straightforward as possible for contractors to complete.

As you will be aware from 1st April 2013 the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will take over responsibility for commissioning primary care services from GPs, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists.

The March 2013 newsletter has been sent out. Included with the newsletter is a methadone endorsing guide and a quick guide to EPS2 prepared by the LPC.

The NHS Commissioning Board has agreed to extend the funding for the NMS for six months. This means that community pharmacies can continue to recruit new patients to the service up until September 30th and will receive payment for these patients even where the service is completed in October or November 2013.

The positive evidence to date has indicated that your patients can really benefit from a quality astham MUR

Over 75 people attended the second in a series of events to be held across Devon to inform pharmacists about the changes the NHS is undergoing. Speakers included representatives from the new NHS Commissioning Board Area Team, West Devon CCG, Public Health and Medicines Optimisation.

The resources are available following the evening held at The Copthorne Hotel, Plymouth on 6th March 2013.

Devon LPC have prepared "A Quick Guide to EPS 2" for those community pharmcies in Devon preparing to go live with EPS2.

Over 70 people attended the first in a series of events to be held across Devon to inform pharmacists about the changes the NHS is undergoing. Speakers included representatives from the new NHS Commissioning Board Area Team, Exeter, East & Mid Devon CCG, Public Health and Medicines Optimisation.

Keep an eye out for the postman as the resources have been despatched to all pharmacies in Devon, excluding Torbay and Plymouth.

Devon Local Pharmaceutical Committee is proud to announce that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has endorsed the Diabetes Medicines Use Review Tool-kit. This is fantastic news for the toolkit which was designed by Devon LPC in association with two local Clinical Commissioning Groups, Diabetes UK, Sanofi Diabetes, PSNC and NPA.

There are only 6 weeks until No Smoking Day 2013 on Wednesday 13th March, so now is the time to order your free supporter pack if you have not already done so!

Community pharmacies in Devon will recently have received a letter detailing the process for the transfer of public health service commissioning to the local authorities.

The authority to be an LPC currently comes from being recognised by the local PCTs. As you will be aware PCTs will disappear from April this year and recognition for a LPC area will be granted by the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB). In preparation for this change the LPC constitution must be amended to remove references to PCTs and replace with the new bodies.

The November alcohol brief interventions that ran in 17 Plymouth HLP pharmacies in November completed over 500 individual interventions. The intervention was to raise the awareness of the harmful affects of higher levels
of alcohol consumption on health.

Up to date contact details for ordering FP57 forms are as follows;

We have been running a leadership survey to help inform a training and development programme for the Devon Pharmacy Local Professional Network which includes all sectors of the pharmacy profession.

PSNC released the interim results from their study of NMS as facilitied by PharmOutcomes (formerly Pharmabase). The study showed that the pharmacist intervention decreased the percentage of patients who were not compliant to their medicines from 18.2% (at 14 days) to just over 10% (at 28 days). This improvement will support patients in gaining better thereapeutic outcomes from their medicines, and in doing this reduce unnecessary hospitalisation of patients, an outcome that will really interest GP commissioning groups!

This is to inform you that a letter has been sent from the
CMO/CPHO informing GPs and community pharmacies that antiviral medicines may now be prescribed for the prophylaxis and treatment of influenza at NHS expense, in accordance with NICE guidance and Schedule 2 to the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Prescription of drugs etc) Regulations 2004), commonly known as the Grey List or Selected List Scheme
(SLS).

AstraZeneca have sent the LPC an invitation which will enable pharmacists to view highlights and expert interviews from the Winter BTS 2012 on the 5th -7th
December at the QE11 Conference Centre in London.

The latest newsletter is available which includes some important messages regarding upcoming campaigns.

The latest issue of the newsletter has been sent out.

A reminder that The Community Pharmacy Funding Update by Mike Dent, Head of Finance at PSNC is due to take place on 10th January 2013 at 7.30pm

The LPC has been in discussions with the Stop Smoking service in Plymouth to try and make the claiming process for the smoking scheme a lot simpler and easier to do.

Pharmacies in Plymouth have been asked to display a poster regarding the consultation being undertaken.

Following the very succesful anti-coagulant workshops, held across Devon, the training documents have been added to the website.

I have recently been commissioned by Devon Drug and Alcohol Team (DAAT) to produce a paper on the issue of the misuse of Over The Counter and Prescription medication across Devon. Each DAAT within Devon, Plymouth and Torbay have approved this piece of work across the whole of Devon.

The LPC Annual General Meeting will be held on 10th December 2012 starting at 7pm. The monthly LPC meeting will commence at 7.30pm. Notification of the meeting and annual accounts have already been sent to contractors for voting.

If you would like to attend, please email Kathryn on kathrynj@devonlpc.org. Copies of the annual report will be added to this article soon.

We enjoyed Oliver Colvile's visit to Keyham Pharmacy
in Plymouth on Friday, when he saw and heard first-hand about the contributionthat community pharmacy can make towards improving patient outcomes for the local population.

Graham Parsons, Specialist Pharmacist, has been commissioned by Devon Drug and Alcohol Team (DAAT) to carry out some research on the issue of misuse of Over The Counter and Prescription medication across Devon.

From January 2013, pharmacies can offer smokers free NHS Quit Kits as part of a new Department of Health campaign to help smokers quit in the New Year.

We are very excited about the forthcoming project in Plymouth, when the pharmacy teams will be making brief alcohol interventions.

A new campaign is set to launch on Monday 19 November across the South West, to raise awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and to encourage smokers to seek support to stop smoking.

The Eddystone Trust have organised seminars across Devon to update practitioners on current issues in young people's sexual health and inform current debates and practice.

The report on the outcomes of the Plymouth based Know Your Skin public health campaign is now available.

A summary of the latest NHS Devon Effective Practice Committee prescribing recommendations is available.

The latest LPC newsletter has been published and posted to community pharmcies.

Following the launch of the Diabetes MUR at The Pharmacy Show, The Pharmaceutical Journal have highlighted the toolkit.

Training sessions have been organised which are due to be held on Monday 29th October. There is a choice of either morning or afternoon.

The latest Cluster newsletter is available along with the self assessment template and letter. Please use the links below;

Mark Stone(LPC pharmacist and Independent Prescriber) and Fawz Farhan (Director MediaPharm & CPDEasy.com) revealed the tool kit to and audience of around 200 people, and explained to the attendees why it was important that pharmacists engage patients who have diabetes about their medicines.

A new conversation starter for community pharmacies from NHS Smokefree - Use this opportunity to boost your smoking cessation service.

If you are a user of EPS R2 please take a few minutes to complete this survey to let Connecting for Health know how it is impacting on your practice.

Devon Doctors have contacted the LPC as they are receiving a number of calls during the day from patients wanting to access medical services in hours who have been given the Devon Doctors number by Community Pharmacies.

The LPC reached a formal agreement with the Local Medical Committee (LMC) on the rationale of shorter prescribing periods.

On Tuesday 28 August the Department of Health is
launching a repeat of the national bowel cancer awareness campaign.

The July edition of the the LPC newsletter is available.

The Regulations have now been laid before Parliament, and will come into force on 1st September 2012

The Revised Contact List of Named and Designated Nurses and Doctors has been published and is on the Safeguarding Children page of the website

The Western Locality is part of the North, East, West Devon shadow Clinical Commissioning Group and as such this Clinical Commissioning handbook has been specifically written to help local clinicians understand the arrangements that are currently being set up for the future clinically led commissioning model.

Details of the South Devon & Torbay CCG have been published.

Twenty five people attended the North Devon Forum held on 10th July at Broomhill Art Hotel. The guest speaker was Colin Flanagan, Lead in Oral Health Promotion at Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust who gave a very informative and humorous talk, with plenty of gruesome pictures!

The campaign in Devon and Torbay finished on Friday 6th July, the deadline to return the evaluation forms and quiz feedback forms is Friday 13th July 2012. The campaign in Plymouth finishes on 13th August with feedback forms to be returned by 20th August 2012.

The presentation from the skin cancer training held in Plymouth on 3rd July is now available.

The latest edition of Clear on Cancer, produced for primary care staff by the Peninsula Cancer Network, is now available.

The LPC has undertaken a stock audit during the early part of 2012, which has been shared with the All Party Pharmacy Group, PSNC and Department of Health. It does include stock issues caused by generic medicines.

A letter has been emailed to all pharmacies in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay outlining the changes being implemented in July 2012

The weather may have been unpredicable this month, but please do keep up your efforts for the last couple of weeks of hte "Know Your Skin" skin cancer campaign.

Please see the link to the EPS section on Connecting for Health which has very useful information for pharmacies.

The latest Community Pharmacy Newsletter published by the PSNC details the changes that have been made to the Drug Tariff, which comes into force on the 1st July 2012.

To view the MUR information and documentation for the Plymouth respiratory MUR project;

The LPC has organised three further training events, following the very successful event held in Plymouth recently. The training will focus on the patient consultation and help develop the pharmacist's consultation skills, ensuring patients get the best benefit from their new medicines.

The latest LPC newsletter has been published.

The NHS Employers organisation and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) have jointly published updated guidance on the New Medicines Service (NMS), which is a useful resource for community pharmacists and commissioners.

Training for the campaign has now been completed and all pharmacies in Devon and Torbay will have been sent their resource packs. The campaign runs from 1st June to the 13th July 2012.

The lists of pharmacies opening over the bank holidays can be found on the link below.

Information on ensuring supply of medicines during the Olympics due to be held in London this summer.

The latest DoH heatwave plan has been published.

A new action plan for treatment of respiratory problems is set out in guidance published today for the NHS.

Devon and Torbay have some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the country, and pharmacies are ideally placed to raise awareness and encourage early diagnosis.

The national campaign aimed at earlier diagnosis of lung cancer launches today and will run until 30th June 2012.

The latest newsletter has been published. Along with the newsletter there is Cluster News from the PCTs, and a letter from David Bearman, Chair of the LPC.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has published the draft standards for pharmacy premises and will be consulting until 7th May 2012.

Following updated guidance on emergency contraception by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), the NPA has produced a factsheet to support pharmacists in implementing the recommendations, which contains the following recommendations:

PSNC has announced the agreed changes to the NMS funding structure.

Pharmacies in Plymouth are now working hard towards ensuring they meet the requirements to become Healthy Living Pharmacies.

There has been talk nationally regarding the implications of a potential strike by fuel tanker drivers. Community pharmacies are advised that this may impact on their business continuity and should include steps to address this in their business continuity plans.

As part of PSNC's ongoing negotiations with the Department of Health (DH), a number of measures have been agreed with the aim of simplifying Drug Tariff reimbursement arrangements in several areas. Some of the changes are due to come into affect as of April 2012.

Pharmacy contractor should have by now received a copy of Dispensing Resources 2012 (contact your Head Office about delivery if you are a Boots or LLoyds Pharmacy).

The Care Homes Management Steering Group now has a dedicated webpage on the Plymouth City Council website.

The second edition of Pharmabase update - a new regular publication intended to keep LPCs, pharmacy contractors and their staff up to date with the development of Pharmabase - has been published.

The link below provides easy access to the latest public health campaigns.

A new page has been set up which contains the resources used for each public health campaign.

We have been fortunate in securing two first class speakers for a workshop on targeted respiratorymedicines use reviews, to be held at Boringdon Park on the 15th March 2012.

Cancer Research UK has asked us to highlight the availability of its free leaflets.

Smokers are being urged to improve their romantic chances by stopping smoking today Valentine's Day! They can pick up a free Quit Kit from their local pharmacy to help them.

No Smoking Day is one of the public health campaigns commissioned by NHS Devon. The public health promotion will run from 5th - 31st March 2012. The materials for promoting this campaign have been despatched to all pharmacies in Devon. All pharmacies are required to take part in the campaign.

New guidance has recently been published on the medicine use review service that includes information on the conditions of service, how to deliver it successfully, monitoring arrangements, an updated MUR service specification, as well as a list of suggested questions which pharmacists can use during the MUR consultation with patients.

How Fantastic are our pharmacists in Devon!

We've just got the data for October, showing that Devon was top in the country for completed NMS episodes! Well done for a sterling effort! Keep up the good work, and keep those good news stories coming in to the LPC
Secretariat.

The NHS Employers organisation, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have published the following documents showing how the New Medicine Service and post-discharge medicines use reviews can be used to provide a seamless care pathway for patients who transfer from hospital to the community setting.

PharmaBase "Update" is a new regular publication intended to keep LPCs, pharmacy contractors and their staff up to date with the development of PharmaBase.

The second edition of ‘the month’ interactive e-newsletter, which includes valuable information about the local NHS in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay has been published.

This uear's Information Governance Toolkit needs to be completed by the end of March 2012

PSNC have issued information about the changes to the May bank holiday brought about by the celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The end of May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4th June 2012 and the extra bank holiday will be on Tuesday 5th June 2012.

A training session has been organised for Plymouth pharmacies who are delivering the LES in Emergency Hormonal Contraception to 13-19 year olds and Chlamydia Screening on 24th April 2012.

Now that three months have passed since it was launched, we would like to gauge how NMS is settling in across Devon. If you could spare us one minute of your time before the end of January, the link below will take you to a very short online survey of 4 questions. The survey is completely anonymous, and will help us to evaluate NMS so far. We will post some feedback on the website in early February. Thanks for your time!

The LPC has submitted a response to the Department of Health. Views received following the consultation event held on 9th January have been included along with those sent in to the Secretariat.

The paperwork has been sent out to pharmacies for the 2012 Medicine Supply Audit in conjunction with Chemist & Druggist. The audit is to run between the 23rd January and the 4th February.

New guidance has been published showing how the New Medicines Service (NMS) and post discharge Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) can be used to provide a seamless care pathway for patients who transfer from hospital to the community setting.

The latest edition of the LPC newsletter has been sent out.

As you will be aware, the New Medicines Services (NMS) went live on 1st October 2011. NMS is the fourth advanced service to be introduced into the NMS community pharmacy contract. It is being implemented to provide
support for people with long-term conditions who have been newly prescribed a medicine to help improve medicines adherence. It is initially focusing on particular patient groups and conditions.

CPPE is running a whole day course on developing Consultation Skills for pharmacists on 5th Feb 2012 at Darts Farm near Topsham.

Following on from the World Cafe Event we held in November, information about how pharmacies can apply to become Healthy Living Pharmacies in Plymouth was posted out to all Plymouth contractors at the weekend.

We have received several queries from pharmacies regarding the ordering of quit kits. An article appeared in the October 2011 LPC newsletter with the phone number for ordering the kits. The details are as follows;
The Department of Health is inviting pharmacies across England to distribute"quit kits" to smokers between January and March 2012.

The LPC has received several queries regarding the completion of the quarterly reporting to the PCT. Please note that the pharmacies using the Pharmabase system will be able to produce an excel spreadsheet propulated with the required information; all other pharmacies will need to use the template excel spreadsheet.

Plese see the article which featured advice given by Devon LPC.

Devon LPC is running an evening workshop on Monday 9th January 2012 at Exeter Racecourse, Kennford, Exeter. The aim of the evening is to give you an opportunity to look at the consultation, hear the views of the LPC, test out some case studies, and help to inform the Devon LPC response to the Department of Health.

The latest edition of the LPC newsletter has been despatched today. Included with the newsletter is Devon Cluster News from the PCTs and a Community Pharmacy Guide on Specials.

NHS Devon is commissioning Carers Health and Wellbeing Checks across a number of providers, including community pharmacy and general practice.

The up to date contact details for the cluster of PCTs in Devon have been received.

The DOH have produced an informative leaflet about the services community pharmacy provide

The latest issue of Drug News contains information on how to help patients make the most of their new medicine.

NHS Plymouth have produced a poster which is designed to encourage patients to order their repeat medication in plenty of time for Christmas and the New Year.

NHS Devon, NHS Plymouth and Torbay Care Trust are all supporting the National Pharmacy Association Ask Your Pharmacist week which starts on Monday, the 7th November.

We are now into the second month of the New Medicines Service and lots of stories are coming in about how you are supporting your patients to take their new medicines.

The NPA has developed a number of resources to support members with the introduction of the new Specials Tariff.

The latest edition of the LPC newsletter has been despatched to those on the distribution lists.

The Devon LPC's AGM took place at Sandy Park, Exeter, on Monday 10th October. The feedback was very positive including "Excellent speakers - well balanced evening"; "Don't miss a single NMS"; "Will start work on NMS as soon as possible"; "Brilliant!".

Torbay Care Trust will be running their health promotion campaign in October, agreed with the LPC and supported by Diabetes UK

The future of pharmacy is here! Plymouth has won an exciting opportunity to be involved in the Pharmacy Healthy Living Project. Plymouth is one of 20 sites nationally that have been given pilot status.

The PCT has sent out a set of documents to each pharmacy.

The NPA Information Department has issued a FAQ sheet for pharmacists regarding the New Medicines Service.

The LPC has sent out to all contractors and staff, a special edition newsletter, which also challenges each pharmacy to get the first six NMS episodes started by 1st November. By completing the Be in at the Start survey on the back of the newsletter and returning it to the LPC, you could win £20 book voucher. So come on - let us know of your experiences!!

Thank you to all those who responded to our public health survey earlier in the summer. We had a 32% response rate which is excellent for this kind of research.

More detailed guidance and information about the New Medicines Service, targeted MURs and changes to the contractual framework was published last week.

Following a competitive selection process the Devon LPC is delighted that NHS Plymouth has been awarded pathfinder status for the Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative.

NHS Devon has recently published its summer issue of the community pharmacy newsletter along with some interesting information about ordering processes for medication for care home patients, and the first quarterly report for the Pharmacy Stop Smoking Services.

With the publication of the Cost of Service Inquiry (COSI) report and the implementation of changes to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, including the launch of the New mEdicines Service, PSNC has announced a programme of regionale vents for contractors to put their questions to PSNC.

Over 40 pharmacists and their staff recently attended an evening launch event of the Stop Smoking LES for NHS Devon.

The latest edition of the LPC "Golden Pages" has been posted, we have also used our new contact database to send it out electronically to those who have requested us to do so.

Below is an article which appeared in C&D recently.

We would be grateful if you could raise awareness to your members of this Advanced and Consultant level accredited CPD short course.

Local Health Profiles, produced annually by the Public Health Observatories in England, are intended to give a snapshot overview of health for each local authority in England, to assist local government and health services in making decisions and plans to improve local people's health and reduce health inequalities. The 2011 Profiles are now available to access via the link below.

The NTA SW is delighted to announce our 6th Regional Conference on...

Shared / Primary Care Based Drug & Alcohol Treatment.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has produced a quick reference guide that aims to provide a roadmap for pharmacists on where to look in the BNF for information.

The Secretariat team at the LPC has been working with the Plymouth Public Health Directorate to work out how best to establish baseline information of the professional development needs of community pharmacists and their teams, so that we can help support our local network of pharmacists to prepare for their enhanced role in public health.

The PCT is trying to raise awareness of how to use nasal sprays correctly, in an attempt to increase effectiveness. It has been reported by the immunologists at Derriford Hospital that many referrals to them could be avoided if patients used their sprays properly.

The Devon LPC, Devon LOC and Devon LDC were recently invited to meet with the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Executive Committee, to start discussions about how the three independent contractor groups could work with the Commissioning consortia to help them help our patients.

Don't forget!

The Department of Health has granted the NCSO Concession to the following products for May 2011:

A summary of the latest NHS Devon Effective Practice Committee prescribing recommendations and commissioning policy has been published.

Following the talk by Rose Bristow from PHS at the Plymouth forum around patient returned medication, please see the link below to the relevant page on this website and the guidance.

The LPC facilitated an excellent evening earlier this week focusing on controlled drugs and substance misuse.

Mel Stride MP visited the new pharmacy located in New Street, Moretonhampstead, and met David Fulton, the pharmacist and David Bearman, Chair of Devon LPC.

NHS Devon is rolling out the EHC LES for 2011-12.

The LPC have sent their response to the Department of Health today. The consultation ends on 31st March 2011

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched "ipharmacist.me", an online resource for pharmacy based health campaigns, providing information about RPS health campaigns, medicines, and pharmacy.

A new channel has been created on the DH website to provide healthcare professionals, stakeholders, the public and the media with all the latest news on health and care reform.

Just published the latest Devon LPC newsletter

NHS Plymouth have organised a clinical event for pharmacy staff - Safeguarding Children Responsibilities, which is due to be held on Wednesday 6th April 2011.

As you know, the Devon LPC asked local pharmacy contractors to record supply issues they had with branded medicines over a two week period in November 2010.

Details have been received of a distance learning course run by the University of Bath

Local pharmacists and staff attended an excellent evening at the recent North Devon forum, where Dr Ian Lewin, Consultant Physician at the North Devon District Hospital, talked about diabetes challenging the thinking on new drugs and insulins.

The next phase of the respiratory MUR initiative was recently launched at the COPD workshop held in January.

The first ever Government cancer awareness campaign to highlight the early signs and symptoms of bowel cancer has just been launched in the South West by Health Minister Paul Burstow.

The Government has published a number of consultation documents following the White Paper:

The Torbay Care Trust is just about to embark on the nextround of training sessions aimed to support the Health Promotion Champions in Torbay to deliver the March public health campaign. The campaign will be focusing on smoking and signposting potential quitters to the appropriate services.

Due to popular demand, a second workshop is due to take place on Monday 28th February 2011 at Sandy Park Conference Centre, Exeter.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has developed a seasonal web resource for pharmacists, which will act as a hub of information for the range of influenza related resources produced by the Government and other bodies.

The latest Plymouth Drugs News (No 68) Yellow can be found on the newsletter page of this website.

With the current snowy conditions across the region, a timely reminder that pharmacy contractors ensure that they have robust business continuity plans in place and updated if necessary.

The resources from the event held on 9th September 2010, are now available.

The annual report has been posted to all contractorsalong with details of the Annual Contractors Meeting due to be held on 14th October 2010

The PCT has just circulated the multi disciplinary audit for 2010-11. The LPC has been consulted with and had input into the design of the audit. Please read through it carefully as some sections are not mandatory. The audit will run from 1st October 2010 - 31st October 2010.

NHS Devon has prepared an update which has details of who to contact in the pharmacy team, Christmas opening, waste contract, EHC LES and controlled localities

Torbay Care Trust is running a local meeting on teenage pregnancy. It's open to anyone who works with young people and is free of charge.

Health Promotion Devon has been commissdioned to survey all providers of weight management services so that a mapping exercise can be carried out to see where the demand and need is for such services. Community pharmacies are being asked to complete the survey if possible.

Want to find out more about GP Commissioning? the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments?

The LPC has been working with Torbay Care Trust and the Torbay Practice Based Commissioning Board to develop a pathway for respiratory MURs.

The LPC is currently running a programme of MP visits to local community pharmacies across Devon to show case the valuable role that community pharmacy has in improving quality of care for local patients and communities.

Following the CHUMs report published earlier this year and the recommendations that PCTs work with GPs, pharmacists and care homes to develop more integrated ways of working together, NHS Devon has arranged a half day workshop to be held on the 29th June 2010.

Point 6. "The equivalence to morphine is 90 mg" should read "The equivalence: ORAL morphine 90 mg"

The Devon LPC is asking all the pharmacy contractors in Devon to highlight the role pharmacy play's in improving patient safety and health outcomes for patients.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Devon LPC has produced a response to the Department of Health's Generic Substitution which closes for responses on March 30th.

Two new public health resources on mental health and sexual health have been announced by Mike O'Brien, the Minister of Health.

There are free training sessions for people working with young people around sex and relationship issues.

The LPC has just finished the round of locality forums for the new year. These have been held in Plymouth, Torbay and North Devon.

We have received several queries from contractors who have received a letter from PHS, asking for the completion of a form which gives PHS the contractors hazardous waste/exemption code. Having contacted the PCTs, we have been informed that PHS sent this letter out in error. Contractors do not need to do anything. PHS will be contacting all pharmacies to advise them of such.

Eighty percent of the patients who took part in the first audit of medicines use reviews (MR) said their knowledge on medicines and how to use them had improved because of an MUR.

One of the clinical governance requirements within the community pharmacy contractual framework is that pharmacists and their staff should participate in one PCT determined multidisciplinary audit each year.

Thank you to all those who have already returned their completed survey. This will be really helpful to us in shaping the work of the the LPC over the next few months, and to amke sure we support contractors in the way you want us to.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has completed a review of the obesity medicine Sibutramine (Reductil) on the basis of new safety information from a large clinical trial, the Sibutramine Cardiovascular OUTcome (SCOUT) study.

New provisions have been introduced that apply to all NHS providers who must assure their PCTs that they manage personal information in compliance with NHS requirements. This must be done by completing the NHS Information Governance Toolkit which is an online assessment tool.

If you find yourself in a position of having to close your pharmacy read on:

The Department of Health has launched a campaign to help raise awareness of chlamydia in the under-25s, which will include an advertising campaign to encourage greater acceptance of screening.

The LPC wants to acknowledge the massive effort being put in by community pharmacists across the County as they are striving to maintain a full pharmaceutical service to their patients. We have been hearing lots of stories of pharmacist going well above and beyond the call of duty - having to stay in local accommodation to ensure they can open the pharmacy despite the disruption this may cause; trekking long distances to reach the pharmacy to open' working extra hours to cope with the additional workload while other staff are unable to get in and liaising with their practices to ensure continuity of supply of medicines.
Community Pharmacy efforts often go unnoticed - so a huge THANK YOU to all of you from the team here at the Secretariat.

Tell your customers and patients about the "Quit Kit"; just launched by the Department of Health to give smokers the tools to successfully stop smoking.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the National Pharmacy Association, 29% of people in the United Kingdom, over the age of 50 years, admit they forget to take their prescribed medicines. Additonally, 22% of people stop taking their medicines before the end of the course if they feel better.

The Department of Health have agreed that "The Drug Tariff Part VIII reimbursement price for Omeprazole for December is £3.99, not £1.77 as printed in December edition of the Drug Tariff"

The Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, has set out his strategy for the NHS to put patients first and improve the quality of care as it enters an unprecedented era of reform.

There is a new consultation out that proposes some additions to the NHS Constitution including the right of patients to have a NHS Health Check and also the right to be offered an alternative provider if the provider they approach does not offer them.

The LPC has just published its latest newsletter. This month includes a write up from the PSNC question time held in London last month, and up to date news about the pharmacy based Chlamydia screening services running across Devon. There are also articles about the forthcoming LPC elections and locality forums.

NHS Devon have a newsletter for community pharmacy.

The Department of Health has issued its consultation on the draft Regulations and accompanying guidance on Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments.

A new Inquiry has been jointly launched by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) to encourage closer integrated working between the two professions, locally and nationally.

Representatives of manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies have held a series of constructive meetings to discuss the current supply problems affecting branded medicines.

The presentations which were given at the Exeter, East Devon & Mid Devon Locality Forum and Torbay Forum on Pharmacy Budget Changes and Swine Flu Vaccination Programme are on the Locality Forums page.

Your LPC is here to ensure that you, as a local contractor, are represented equitably and effectively. Your LPC negotiates on your behalf, and champions community pharmacy and the great service you provide.

Skills for MURs is a new distance learning and assessment programme designed to give community pharmacists the knowledge and practical skills required to provide Medicine Use Reviews.

The PCT is just about to send out this year's Multi Disciplinary Audit to be rung the week commencing 19th October 2009. Please make sure you complete and return it to the PCT as requested by the 30th October 2009.

In the September newsletter we stated a MUR Tip, which was to lookout for any patients that were taking both clopidogrel and a PPI. We have been kindly contacted on a couple of unintentional errors with this article.

Some contractors have been contacting the Secretariat regarding the availablity of Fluoxetine 20mg capsules. PSNC has just announced that this product has now been granted NCSO status for the month of September. This means contractors will be able to dispense a more expensive available product, such as Prozac. Contractors should make a signed and dated "NCSO" endorsement, and endorse full details of the more expensive item they have dispensed.

The Medicines Margins Survey conducted by the Department of Health assesses the margin achieved by pharmacy contractors in the previous financial uear.

The Centre for Pharmacy Portgraduate Education (CPPE) has launched an e-learning programme to aid pharmacists and registered pharmacy technicians to comply with the new responsible pharmacist requirements.

The National Health Service (Miscellaneous Amendments Relating to Community Pharmaceutical Services and Optometrist Prescribing) Regulations 2009 were laid before Parliament on 20 August 2009 and come into force on 17 September 2009.

Devon PCT are running a pilot to study the feasibility of installing "grab bins" in selected community pharmacy tro see how successful these are in reaching young people aged between 16 and 24.

The NHS choices "Behind the Headlines" service has produced a swine flu "science" page which brings together a number of the latest science and development on the pandemic into a single accessible resource for both health professionals and the general public.

According to research conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), older people are taking a cocktail of medicines without fully understanding what they are or the side effects they are causing.

The RPSGB has just launched an online audit of MURs that could be used as the annual PCT determined multi disciplinary audit.

Try this useful quick guide for dispensing staff to help them deal with the issue of supply problems.

NHS Employers has released an England-wide guide to help primary care trusts (PCTs) produce "pharmaceutical needs assessments" (PNAs).

According to a press release from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Department of Health has announced plans to amend the Medicines Act 1968 at the earliest opportunity to decriminalise dispensing errors.

Pharmacy contractors may have seen the announcement that 30,000 personal alarms are to be made available to NHS staff who are assessed by their health service body as being at risk.

The LPC has designed a toolkit to help contractors prepare for the PCT contract monitoring visit. This is based on the self assessments that you have to submit to the PCT on an annual basis, appreciating that each PCT in Devon adopts a slightly different approach.

Devon LPC has been involved with the ABPI, NHS South West and other parties to develop a project, which is aimed to increase the awareness of medicines allergies. Medicines allergies cause a number of emergency admissions to hospital each year, the Department of Health stated that the number of anaphylaxis admissions to hospital was 3171 people in 2004 and that medicines caused approximately 30% of these cases.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has announced that the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) has launched a new service for pharmacists to help them handle performance concerns and maintain safe and effective care for their patients and the public.

Over 80 pharmacists, PCT officers and random guests decided to miss the World Cup qualifer last night to attend the Devon LPC Spring Event at Sandy Park.

Devon PCT have supplied the LPC with details of pharmacy opening for Easter and bank holidays from April 2009 - March 2010.

The Department of Health has issued guidance on the Medicines Regulations for 2008, specifically with respect to pharmacies and the "responsible pharmacist".

The MHRA has launched on its website, a new dedicated, one-stop resource for pharmacists, particularly community pharmacists.

The RPSGB has produced a report calling for a five to ten year action plan to be drawn up by pharmacists and other key healthcare providers to improve medicines safely. It also make recommendations for future practice.

NICE recently published guidance on medicines adherence. which can be downloaded from the NICE website

There has been some confusion over the dates which have been organised by Devon PCT for their pharmacy forums. An incorrect fax number was also given.

The evening organised for 14th January has been rearranged to 4th February at The Passage house Hotel, Kingsteignton.

The dates of The LPC forums have not changed.

The Christmas decorations are down, and you may have noticed a certain brand of Creme Eggs in the shops already! It may seem a long way away but any intention to change trading hours over the Easter period must be notified to the PCT by January 12th AT THE LATEST!

Just before Christmas, the Chemist & Druggist Magazine reported that "significant" potential barriers to pharmacy's role in the national vascular screening programme must be removed by the Department of Health (DH)

Dr Foster lost the contract with the DOH to provide NHS Choices.

PSNC has recently launched a new weekly electronic newsletter service which provides a digest of the latest updates and news from the PSNC Website.

Plymouth tPCT is committed to transforming from a health care delivery system into an integrated, easy to access, personalised care model, with a focus on prevention. This will place community pharmacy in the driving seat when it comes to supporting patients for self care and healthy living.

The Devon LPC recently supported a South West primary action planning event held in Taunton. Over 70 representatives from LPCs and Primary Care Trusts from the south west region heard a number of presentations based on the contribution that community pharmacy could make to the South West priorities for improving health. Local initiatives including the Plymouth obesity pilot and the contribution Medicines Use Reviews can make to improving patient care were showcased by local pharmacists.

CPPE ran a workshop on Dementia in Exeter in October 2008. The speaker was Dr Annette Downey, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Melrose Unit, Tiverton Hospital. Dr Downey gave a very informative and interesting presentation, which was much enjoyed by all those present.

Devon LPC have sent off their response to The White Paper.

Responses should be sent no later than Thursday 20th November 2008 to: PWPCONS@dh.gsi.gov.uk.

Alternatively, copies can be sent by post to:
Gillian Farnfield,
Department of Health,
Medicines Pharmacy and Industry Group
Area 453D, Skipton House,
80 London Road,
London SE1 6LH

Because of the importance of the current consultation and the need for pharmacists to respond by the 20th November, the Devon LPC has arranged two mini listening events, on the 4th and 6th November. These will be fully interactive and offer you the chance to find out more about what the White Paper will mean for you and your profession.

Torbay Care Trust has released details of the development fund that has been allocated to pump prime community pharmacy initiatives, to enable the profession locally to demonstrate the contribution pharmacy can make towards the priorities set out by the Care Trust in its local plans.

The Department of Health has announced the clinical directors for pharmacy.

Mark Stone a community pharmacist will facilitate the evening. He has an understanding of the needs and the challenges facing community pharmacists. He will look at the Pharmacy White Paper and its importance to integrate community pharmacy into the PCTs strategy.

The Pharmacy White paper addresses ways to resolve some of the capacity issues within the NHS. It has an overall objective to improve access, choice and encourage innovative cost effective pathways for patients.

The Annual Report for 2007-08 has just been published.

From 30th September 2008, all PCTs need to be posting all adverts and award notices on the "Supply2health" website.

The Government has now published its consultation document for the Pharmacy White paper, wih responses due by the 20th November. Devon LPC has prepared

The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has published an updated edition of ‘Dispensing with Repeats’. This document is intended to provide an overview of the repeat dispensing arrangements and will be of interest to prescribers

Patient Safety First Campaign for England
This Campaign has been created to change the culture within the NHS; to one that puts the safety of patients as the highest priority.

Devon PCT has agreed a new Local Enhanced Service for Community Pharmacists to run from 1st October 2008

The Annual General Meeting for Devon Local Pharmaceutical Committee is due to take place on the evening of Thursday 9th October. Guest speakers Sue Sharpe and John Turk will

A consultation document is currently out to review the proposed price cut of 5% on NHS medicines and to fix the renumeration evel on branded medication.

The SouthWest strategic framework for delivering health in the south west has recently been published. The LPC has responded to the consultation and can be viewed online.

Devon LPC is committed to supporting community pharmacists and has arranged a series of forums designed by pharmacists for pharmacists. The first of these events will take place in North Devon on Tuesday 9th September.

The PSNC has issued a press release offering advice to pharmacists on endorsing prescriptions dispensed for Dianette (R) with the name of the supplier to ensure that copies aren't returned by the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) for clarification.

Plymouth tPCT has started a community pharmacy weight management pilot scheme; baased on a similar model to that successfully piloted in Coventry PCT. The scheme, which is supported by the Department of Health, will initially run for a period of 12 months. The pilot has been developed in partnership with Unichem Professional Services and the Devon LPC.

Round-table discussion on the role of brief interventions in smoking cessation

The Chemist and Druggist launched an MUR zone full of useful information to help pharmacists complete MURs. It gives information around therapeutic areas, drugs and tips to assist with the delivery.

The DoH is looking to ensure PCTs have robust plans in place to manage an outbreak of pandemic flu. To this point Devon LPC is looking to work with the 3 trusts in Devon to ensure community pharmacy is recognised in the plans.

The LPC recently held a development day to review its progress against its priorities and objectives set over a year ago. The committee also wanted to make sure that it has the right structure to best meet the demands posed by the local NHS structures and processes and our contractors' expectations. The LPC has recognised that local engagement is essential with both commissioners and contractors.

NHS Direct has launched a “Medicines Zone” on its website, which offers users an in-depth guide to medicines, prescriptions, immunisation, contraception and more.

The new white paper has been published which outlines a bigger role for pharmacists in treating sickness and promoting good health.

PSNC has published detailed guidance for contractors on the NHSBSA Capacity Improvement Programme (CIP) which includes an overview of the programme and a summary of the support available on known implementation issues.

The General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association and the National Pharmacy Association have produced a workbook entitled "Improving communciation between community pharmacy and general practice" to help facilitate local dialogue between the two professional groups, helping to improve patient care.

The Library of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has launched myLibrary, a new, free online library for registered pharmacists, myLibrary enables pharmacists to download whole articles from over 1,700 full-text journals, as well as seaqrch thousands of abstracted references to published articles in pharmacy, medicine and health.

The Department of Health has issued updated guidance on evidence based NHS stop smoking services. The guidance is intended for those involved in managing, commissioning or delivering NHS stop smoking services and supersedes that which was previously issued in 2001-2002.

Devon PCT have launched the Chlamydia Screening Scheme in pharmacies.

Devon PCT have organised pharmacy forums across Devon, the details can be found on the Events page

The Government has launched a national campaign to remind GPs of the problem of antibiotic resistance, and that patients should be advised that antibiotics will not cure the common cold. Although there have been public education campaigns to discourage the overuse of antibiotics, the Government is warning that resistance is still on the increase and that prompt action is required to preserve the efficacy of the drugs that we have. In 2006/7 the NHS spent £175.8 million on antibiotics prescribed in the community.

As part of our programme of ongoing support to contractors in Devon, the LPC have developed a training brief to help you ensure you are ready for the NPSA safety requirements for anticoagulent dispensing effective from the 1st April 2008.

Following on from a report of Cegedim sites having a 'patch' applied and the ETP system becoming faster there is some good news.

What three things should contractors be doing now with regards to Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions?

The Department of Health have published a summary analysis of the responses received to the consultation inviting views on Departmental proposals to modernise current financial allocation arrangements for NHS pharmaceutical services requiring primary legislation.

The Improvement Foundation’s Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) programme is running a PBC webcast on 4 December 2007. Prominent speakers will present their views on the current issues facing practitioners and pharmacists, exploring the potential of community pharmacy through PBC.

DH has issued updated guidance which is intended for everyone involved in managing, commissioning or delivering NHS Stop Smoking Services. It has been developed by means of a collaboration with representatives from SHAa, PCTs, the Information Centre and academics from the field of smoking cessation.

The LPC have been asked to remind contractors of the Retention and Reporting Scheme.

The Darzi review of how the NHS delivers patient care wants to hear the views of all those with an interest in building a better health service. Patients, staff and the public at large are all invited to contribute. There’s a lot of media interest at the moment about doctors being asked to provide more out-of-hours service – what about patients being offered more services through community pharmacy, like support for self management of long term conditions, diagnostics, helping people to stay well and management of minor illness, thus diverting attendances at A&E and walk in centres and reducing the need to access GPs?

The subject is vast – key areas of debate include access to services, quality of care, and the management of lifestyle issues such as smoking and nutrition.

PSNC have recently announced changes in fees and changes in Category M prices which came into effect on October 1st 2007. Further information ….