NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
CANCER MORTALITY RATE DROPS BY 11%
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Cancer death rates have dropped by 11% over the past 10 years, figures published last month (November) show.
The figures, published by ISD Scotland, analyse cancer mortality data between 1989 and 2014. The overall cancer mortality rate in 2014 is the lowest in that time period, as are rates for cancer of the breast, lung, stomach and colorectal cancer.
The figures show a 6% decrease in cancer deaths amongst women, compared to a 15% drop in deaths among men.
For women, the largest decreases in mortality rates were stomach, breast and ovarian cancer. Deaths due to breast cancer, which is the most common cancer diagnosed amongst women, have dropped by 20% over the past 10 years to 2014.
For men, the largest decreases in cancer deaths were in stomach, colorectal and lung cancer. Mortality rates from prostate cancer, the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, have decreased by 10.3% over the past 10 years.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said, “This reduction is due to improvements in early detection, through raised awareness and routine screening as well as the development of more specialist care and effective treatments. Of course there is more work to be done and we recognise that there is variation in mortality rates between males and females and certain tumour types.
“One of the keys to improving cancer mortality rates is early diagnosis, and that is why we have invested £39 million in our Detect Cancer Early programme. The main aim of the programme is to encourage all people, regardless of their personal circumstances, who have any unusual or persistent changes to their body, to visit their GP.”
4 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
Success for Pharmacist-led Hepatitis Initiative An NHS Tayside initiative to improve access to testing and treatment of Hepatitis C in people receiving opioid replacement therapy has been recognised at a national awards ceremony.
traditionally hard-to-reach group and found that they were supportive of care being provided from community pharmacies. The pathways have now been finalised and will be tested initially in eight pharmacies across Tayside with plans to roll out to around 100 pharmacies across Scotland next year.
Tom McEwan, Specialist Clinical Pharmacist Gastroentorology; Hassan Yousaf, Boots Reform Street Pharmacy Manager; Ann Eriksen, Executive lead for sexual health and blood borne viruses; Andrew Radley, Consultant in Public Health Pharmacy; Veronique Walsh from award sponsors Bristol-Myers Squibb.
A team led by NHS Tayside’s Public Health Directorate was awarded Best Treatment Pathway Initiative in the 2015 Quality in Care (QiC) Programme Awards Hepatitis C category for its project ‘Testing and treatment of Hepatitis C through community pharmacist-led care’.
The greatest risk of acquiring Hepatitis C (HCV) in the United Kingdom is through injecting drug use and the largest single infected group are those who are prescribed opioid replacement therapy (ORT). Currently
Invoicing Update
The following is applicable from Pharmacists January 2016 Part 1 submission onwards, Practitioner Services no longer require community pharmacies to attach invoices to the prescription forms for which they relate to.
NHS Scotland Community Pharmacy’s Sorting & Scanning Centre will
only small numbers of highly- motivated patients in this group come forward for HCV treatment through the existing NHS pathways.
As this group usually receives their daily ORT from a community pharmacist, the team looked at the feasibility of redesigning the pathways to use community pharmacy services as a way for patients to access testing and treatment.
The team carried out a series of focus groups involving patients from this
introduce a new process which will make it easier and more efficient for any relevant personnel, for example Data Processing, Payment Verification and Health Boards to view these documents. To help implement this process successfully, when submitting prescription forms to Practitioner Services for payment, they ask that you:- • Submit all invoices together in one batch at the rear of your
Inaugural report of specialised roles
The first ever international overview of the extent of the advanced and specialised roles that pharmacists are undertaking, and the mechanisms supporting these developments, was presented at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences last month.
The information is contained in a new report, “Advanced practice and specialisation in pharmacy: Global report”, produced by the International
Pharmaceutical Federation Education Initiative (FIPEd).
“Around the world, Pharmacists’ roles are becoming more diversified. Some countries are recognising this by area of specialty practice in a sector or clinical area, others are identifying advanced performance using evidence-driven, developmental frameworks; so there are a variety of means to recognise practice beyond that seen at initial registration,” said
The project was commended by the award judges who said, “This is a fantastic model and is the way forward, with potential to replicate in GP practices. It meets national objectives and shows great community awareness.”
This is the second year in a row that NHS Tayside has been awarded Best Treatment Pathway Initiative after its Hepatitis C Managed Clinical Network won in 2014. NHS Tayside also scooped the Best Diagnosis & Testing Programme award last year for Dundee Community Health Partnership’s work on ‘Improving Outcomes for Patients with Blood Borne Viruses in Dundee’.
bundle, no longer attached to the corresponding prescription form
• Only submit invoices – Not delivery notes
• Do not submit Certificates of Conformity to Practitioner Services
• It continues to be essential that you endorse the electronic claim and prescription form with any price (excluding VAT) and Out of Pocket expenses where applicable.
co-author Kirstie Galbraith.
The report gives access to information from 48 countries and territories, including case studies that outline trends in policy development related to advanced and specialised roles.
The report serves as important information for the World Health Organisation. “Advanced practice and specialisation in pharmacy: Global report” is available at
www.fip.org/educationreports
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