NEWS NPA IN FOCUS
hEalth + PhaRmacy anne mcalister, NPa Representation manager in Northern Ireland, attended the recent Pharmacy alliance meeting for an update on the accreditation process for health+
Pharmacy.Seventeen pharmacies are now accredited as health+Pharmacies, and eligible pharmacies are encouraged to progress towards accreditation before the june 2017 deadline. to support the implementation of the h+P quality standards the NPa has produced a toolkit
www.npa.co.uk/news-and- events/news-item/healthpharmacy-accreditation-support/ which provides supplementary documentation and guidance in achieving the requirements of the quality criteria.
In addition, fifteen pharmacies in the Belfast area have signed up to deliver an alcohol mOt pilot service. the service involves an initial screening and brief intervention, with onward referral to addiction NI depending on risk identified. the service is directed to clients aged 18 or over and those who present to the pharmacy with symptoms that may be particularly associated with alcohol misuse, such as those with gastric problems, history of falls, anxiety and depression. the service will be offered initially for six months, commencing end of October 2016.
PhaRmacy dEadlINE tRackER the NPa has published a new Pharmacy deadline tracker for Q4 2016. this is an easy-to-reference resource designed to support NPa members stay on top of key deadlines, and is updated each quarter
www.npa.co.uk/login/?r=information-and-guidance/pharmacy- deadline-tracker. this can be used alongside the annual activity Planner to provide a complete overview of activity through the year in your pharmacy
www.npa.co.uk/information-and- guidance/administrative-activity-planner/
NEw NPa BUSINESS Pack the NPa was proud to launch its new business resources pack to NI members at its recent conference in September. 'Business Efficiency Solutions'includes resources to allow members make sure that all parts of their business are robust, from examining the external environment to identify opportunities to resources that help analyse your internal business processes. If you wish to receive a hard copy of the pack, please contact
a.mcalister@
npa.co.uk. alternatively, resources can be accessed via our new Business Solutions page on the website
www.npa.co.uk/business-solutions
aSk yOUR PhaRmacISt finally, a reminder that this year’s ask your Pharmacist week will t ake place 7-14 November, with the theme 'more than medicines'. a series of visits with local mlas and lord mayors has been planned in conjunction with community Pharmacy Northern Ireland. NPa members will also be able to access posters, template social media posts, infographics, template local newspaper columns, PowerPoint presentations, talk notes for community talks and other resources. for further information contact
a.mcalister@
npa.co.uk
wORRyINg NEwS ON aNtIdEPRESSaNtS
the first ever review of trials of antidepressants taken by healthy adults with no signs of a mental disorder has established that antidepressants doubled the harms related to suicide and violence. the analysis, published recently by thejournal of the Royal Society of medicine, was undertaken because the harms of antidepressants, including the risk of suicide, are often explained away as if they are disease symptoms or only a problem in children.
thirteen double-blind, placebo- controlled trials were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis undertaken by the research team from the Nordic cochrane centre and the University of copenhagen. the researchers believe that the review actually underestimates the harms of
antidepressants since they had access to only the published articles for eleven of the thirteen trials, rather than being able to analyse the full data held by the drug companies.
'while it is now generally accepted that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide and violence in children and adolescents,' said lead author, Professor Peter gøtzsche, of the Nordic cochrane centre, 'most people believe that these drugs are not dangerous for adults. this is a potentially lethal misconception.
'the reporting of harms in drug trials is generally poor. Our review established that the trials did not report much about their methodology and that the reporting of adverse events was generally inadequate.'
ImPROVEd USER-fRIENdly wEB ORdERINg PlatfORm fOR allIaNcE hEalthcaRE
committed to 'doing things differently', alliance healthcare has announced new enhancements to its existing web-ordering platform, alliance healthcare
direct.the user- friendly and secure online ordering tool now has the following key features: • colour-coded stock availability status, updated four times a day.
• ability to view orders by expected delivery date.
• access to quick view (within two minutes), delivery and stock
availability for all orders by accessing this new feature.
a useful information icon for each entry has been introduced that, when hovered on, provides additional information including the order number and the date and time the order was processed.
the system offers the flexibility to sort orders by the column header including product, order status and expected delivery date.
EUROPE-wIdE laUNch Of PhOENIx PhaRmacy PaRtNERShIP
with around 9000 member pharmacies in fifteen countries, PhOENIx Pharmacy Partnership is the largest network for pharmacy cooperation in Europe.
Now, the group has announced that it is creating a European umbrella for its existing pharmacy cooperation
52 - PhaRmacy IN fOcUS
programmes, which is great news for the Uk member of the partnership: Numark.
for more information on PhOENIx Pharmacy Partnership, visit:
www.phoenix-pharmacy-
partnership.eu
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