UCA NEWS UCA news round-up


New Faces at UCA The UCA are delighted to announce the appointment of a Representation Pharmacist. Mairead Conlon will take up her post at the beginning of November and will be assisting the UCA to develop the representation, communication and support it provides to its members.


Mairead brings to UCA a wealth of experience in community pharmacy, both as a pharmacist and manager with Boots the Chemist as well as an educational background through her teacher practitioner role at QUB.


Mairead Conlon


UCA Local Pharmacists have enjoyed an excellent CPD seminar of Atrial Fibrillation at recent UCA Local meetings. Supported by Pfizer, the seminars have been presented by pharmacists specialising in AF.


Feedback has been excellent and the last meeting in the Northern area will be an AF Masterclass with speakers such as Dr Paul Horan, Consultant Cardiologist & Clinical lead for Cardiology, Northern Trust; Dr Gary Benson, Consultant Haematologist, Belfast City Hospital & Director NI Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre; Dr Roisin O’Hare, Lead Teacher Practitioner Pharmacist & CV Pharmacist, Craigavon Area Hospital and two Northern Trust GPs. All seminars offer up to two hours CPD.


At the meetings, Age NI representatives have also provided pharmacists with information and signposting guidance for their area. This is very useful for pharmacies given your patient/customer demographic and particularly helpful for pharmacies going for Health + Accreditation.


The next round of UCA Local meetings will be held in January/February.


UCA Operations Manager, Adrienne Clugston, welcomed Mairead’s appointment “UCA is committed to developing our membership base as well as the support and representation we provide to meet our members’ needs in this very challenging environment.


UCA has also appointed a new member of the office team. Natalie Calder will take up her post at the end of November, so look out for this new face and voice on the end of the phone.


All things Pre-Reg The UCA Pre-Registration Training Programme is in full swing with Day 1 & 2 already completed and feedback from the students is excellent. UCA has engaged experienced pharmacist, Alison Guy, to facilitate the training days and add extra professional input to their learning experience.


UCA is currently compiling its Pre-Reg Placement Pack for the 2017-18 intake. This is much earlier than usual due to changes in the recruitment process, so if you haven’t added your details to the list, please get in contact with UCA as soon as possible to register your interest in offering a Pre- Reg placement or holiday/part-time employment to undergraduates.


Auto-enrolment Pensions Words that may strike fear or merely disinterest in most people. However, it is a reality for all businesses regardless of size or employee numbers.


The vast majority of businesses will have received their letter from the Pension Regulator giving them the date at which they must have their pension in place and be ready to ‘Go Live’.


UCA held two seminars in Cookstown and Belfast in October to provide information and guidance to members. It isn’t as simple as ‘My accountant will look after that’ so it is important that every business takes the time given to them to carry out all the tasks necessary by the staging date.


If you weren’t able to attend one of the events, there is information on the UCA website or contact the UCA office for help.


UCA & Numark First Aid


Training UCA and Numark have collaborated on a new training initiative. The first Emergency First Aid training day will be held at the UCA offices on Thursday 12th November. Further training days will be arranged for 2016 so please register your interest with UCA by emailing info@uca.org.uk.


Smoking Cessation Forum UCA hosted a discussion forum on Smoking Cessation on 11th November to assess pharmacy’s role and highlight best practice in this area. The overall objective was to enhance the pharmacy role in the provision of smoking cessation services to patients and to develop new service ideas to improve quit rates.


What Katy Did Next UCA’s own Katie McKittrick was invited to give a presentation to delegates at the recent McLernons Real World Retail event in Belfast. Katie took the stage late in the afternoon to provide some guidance to pharmacies and encouraged everyone to check their NHS payment. As always, her lively talk received great feedback from the audience and a few requests for a follow-up call!


UCA Pain Seminar Following on from the NICPLD CPD autumn programme seminars on pain, the UCA has teamed up with the Pain Alliance of Northern Ireland to bring pharmacists a complementary seminar on pain management. Delegates will hear from specialist speakers on pain including Dr Pamela Bell, Chair of the Pain Alliance.


• Peter Moore Living with long-term pain


• Dr Pamela Bell, Chair, Pain Alliance of Northern Ireland What is long-term pain? Anatomical and neurobiological aspects


• Joanne Marley, Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Ulster Moving with pain - what physiotherapy can offer


• Dr Jenny Maguire, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, SEHCT Managing pain, mood and sleep - the role of clinical psychology


The seminar is on 1st December at Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn. Registration and refreshments are available from 6.30pm with the seminar 7.00pm – 9.00pm. All pharmacists are welcome.


UCA’s Katie McKittrick was invited to speak at the recent McLernons Real World Retail event in Belfast. Katie is passionate about making sure pharmacies get paid the correct NHS reimbursement and delegates at this event were given some pointers as to how they can minimise mistakes at the pharmacy and check for errors in their payment. Katie is also providing training for students at the UCA Pre- Reg Training Programme.


The problem is: pharmacies may know that they should check, but do they have time to check every month or at all? Regular checking finds mistakes and they may lots of small mistakes but they may be big mistakes. The UCA’s Prescription Payment Support Service can do the checks for you and follow up with BSO on your behalf. Those pharmacies using this service find that it pays for itself within one or two months.


For more information, phone Katie on 028 9065 6576 or email: coding@uca.org.uk.!”


Concessionary Prices Update The following products have been granted concessionary prices for October 2015:


• Celiprolol 200mg tablets (28) £19.83 • Cimetidine 400mg tablets (60) £6.55


• Clindamycin 150mg capsules (24) £13.25


• Diclofenac sodium 50mg gastro- resistant tablets (28) £2.73


• Disulfiram 200mg tablets (50) £91.73


• Lamotrigine 5mg dispersible tablets sugar free (28) £8.50


• Mefenamic acid 500mg tablets (28) £12.15


• Trazodone 50mg/5ml oral solution sugar free (120ml) £117.00


Concessionary prices can continue to be granted up until the end of the month.


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CHECKING FOR ERRORS


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