NEWS


‘ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE’ MOVES A STEP CLOSER


NES Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy Scotland have announced a bespoke, fully-funded Independent Prescribing (IP) course for community pharmacists in NHS Scotland.


In addition to costs for the IP course and NES Clinical Assessment Skills courses, the new Scottish Government funding will also be


available for locum fees for the six days at the university, four days for clinical assessment skills training and completion of the 90 hours experiential training as a part of the IP course.


The fi rst course, for up to 25 community pharmacists, will commence on 14 January 2019 at


the University of Strathclyde, with face-to-face training at the university between 8-12 April and 3 July 2019. The deadline for applications is 12 October 2018. The places will be fi lled on a fi rst come, fi rst served basis.


As a part of this bespoke course, specifi cally targeted/designed at utilising prescribing within a community pharmacy setting, pharmacists will be required to fulfi l certain conditions to support future use of the qualifi cation, including completion of two days of clinical assessment skills training at a School of Medicine/Nursing and the recording of one patient consultation for peer review by NES Pharmacy. On qualifi cation as an IP, pharmacists will also be expected to complete the NES Common Clinical Conditions course, or one of the NES Advanced Clinical Assessment skills courses.


Details relating to academic requirements for attending the IP course can be found on the university website.


FUNDING FOR PRESCRIBING CLINICS TO CONTINUE As CPS and NES announce their new


prescribing courses, the Scottish government has announced that it intends to continue funding for community pharmacist supplementary and independent prescribing clinics in 2018-19. The government announced that it would provide the same level of funding to each board as in 2017-18. This amounts to:


Ayrshire & Arran £75,000 Borders £21,150


Dumfries & Galloway £21,100 Fife £73,900 Forth Valley £51,000 Grampian £102,700 Greater Glasgow & Clyde £247,700 Highland £65,000 Lanarkshire £109,500


4 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST


Lothian £148,600 Orkney £0 Shetland £0 Tayside £77,250 Western Isles £7,100 Total: £1,000,000


IN BRIEF


NSAID CARE BUNDLE RESOURCES TO BE SENT TO COMMUNITY PHARMACIES IN SCOTLAND


Every community pharmacy in Scotland has recently received information from the Scottish Patient Safety Programme to support with NSAID supply. The guide explains how to implement the NSAIDs communication care bundle in community pharmacies throughout Scotland. All of the resources in the toolkit box have been developed to help pharmacy teams deliver the key safety messages and improve the safety of NSAIDs by ensuring patients have better information about how to take NSAIDs safely. For more information visit: https:// ihub.scot/media/3674/2018- nsaids-safer-care-bundle-v10.pdf


DAVIDSONS MOVES CLOSER TO ’50 PHARMACY’ GOAL


A review of these clinics is to be carried out over the course of 2018/19 to assess whether any changes are necessary to ensure the provision of an appropriate and stable funding model and the outcomes of this review will inform the fi nancial arrangements for 2019/2020.


Last year, Allan Gordon, Managing Director of Davidsons Chemists, told SP that the company’s primary goal was ownership of 50 pharmacies. This week that target moves a step closer with the acquisition of R S McPherson (Broughty Ferry) Ltd on 1 June: an acquisition that means the company now own 37 pharmacies in Scotland.


‘Naturally we’re delighted,’ Allan told SP. ‘This pharmacy is one of the biggest in Tayside and we are delighted that we have managed to secure it for our group.’


CALLS TO PHARMACIST HELPLINE INCREASE


The Listening Friends helpline, which is run by Pharmacist Support, has been running for 22 years and, during that time, has provided a supportive ear to thousands of pharmacists, trainees and students, who are struggling with a variety of work-related and personal issues. Alarmingly, the charity last year witnessed a signifi cant increase in the number of calls made to the helpline (up 39 per cent on the previous year) and a 28 per cent increase in the number of calls made by volunteers to LF clients.


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