DEAL AGREED
Following Community Pharmacy Scotland’s (CPS) acceptance of a Scottish Government financial offer on behalf of pharmacy owners, the final and full details of the distribution of those funds has now been released in a government circular.
This settlement follows protracted negotiations which created an unfortunate period of uncertainty and insecurity for Community Pharmacy Scotland members, but were ultimately necessary to secure a more stable financial outlook for Scotland’s network of 1,256 pharmacies after what has been a relentless and
challenging 2022/23 in terms of finance, workforce and workload challenges.
A Community Pharmacy Scotland spokesperson said, “We are pleased to have worked with our Scottish Government colleagues to reach a mutually beneficial deal that supports the work of the network in helping the people of Scotland stay well as close to home as possible and helps to manage the extreme demands on the wider NHS. We will now work closely with our members on the details and implementation of the circular throughout the remainder of the financial year 2023/24”
The financial settlement does not, however, provide the conditions for a year of service growth and development that the people of Scotland have benefitted from in the last three years, such as the launch and development of NHS Pharmacy First.
Previous commitments such as a new Hay Fever bundle of PGDs for NHS Pharmacy First Scotland will flow through for the benefit of the people of Scotland, but in the main pharmacy teams will focus on recuperation and consolidation of our already world-leading community pharmacy service offering.
DESIGNATED PRESCRIBING PRACTITIONER
The Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) role came into place following regulatory changes in 2019, and allows experienced pharmacist independent prescribers to undertake this important work.
The DPP is key in the delivery and support of the Pharmacist Independent Prescriber training. They support the trainee to develop their prescribing skills and complete the final assessment and sign off on the competencies required to become an Independent
Prescriber (IP). The role is relatively new in Community Pharmacy, and many Independent Prescribers are planning to undertake this role as the next stage in their development. In line with this, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) is currently undertaking a project to support the operational development of the DPP Role in Community Pharmacy. Employee and contractor DPPs from a spread of Independant and CCA community pharmacies across the network have been recruited to participate in this project.
NPAIN FOCUS
NPA Learn resource All members are encouraged to access the NPA Learn resource, which has just been relaunched. Part of The Pharmacy Network, NPA Learn contains a library of high-quality educational e-learning modules, videos and articles to support the ongoing learning of NPA members. There is training suitable for all abilities, ensuring your staff can keep up to date and develop their skills and knowledge to positively influence patient outcomes and customer experiences. Management dashboards also allow head office, company and branch managers to manage the learning of their pharmacy colleagues. Visit
www.npa.co.uk
Face-to-face flu vaccination training course A face-to-face flu vaccination training course in taking place in Glasgow on Sunday 24 September. The course is open to all pharmacy technicians / trainee pharmacists, including both those new to vaccinations as well as those requiring a refresher. Lasting just 3.5 hours, it will provide in-depth information on the practical skills required to vaccinate adults and children over the age of 2. Participants will also have access to an online course providing all the theory content required. The course takes place at the Premier Inn in George Street on 24 September. See
https://ecgtraining.co.uk/npa-members/
There are also options for online refresher courses and Patient Group Directions (PGDs).
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scottishpharmacist.com
Flu vaccine stock availability table A flu vaccine stock availability table for the 2023/24 influenza season is available via the NPA website. This includes availability and ordering information on flu vaccines. Please note that availability status changes rapidly and information is correct at time of publishing. View table here
https://www.npa.co.uk/information-and-guidance/ flu-vaccine-adrenaline-stock-availability-table- influenza-season/
Resources to support setting up a vaccination service, including Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), cold chain, Chaperone and consent resources are available on the NPA website. It is a detailed list of documents and resources, updated periodically. Visit
https://www.npa.co.uk/ information-and-guidance/vaccinations- services-resources/
Vaccination skills assessment template A vaccination skills assessment template is available as part of the National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Immunisation Training for Registered Healthcare Practitioners. All health professionals delivering immunisations should be trained and competent and complete regular update training. There may be different requirements depending on the service or PGD that should be followed. In the event of a patient safety incident, as part of the incident investigation, the pharmacist’s vaccination skills competency may be
The DPPs participating in the project, supervise their Independent Pharmacist Trainees through their IP Courses. In addition, the IP trainees and their DPPs spend specific time together on the project, following which, the DPP writes a short report on the operational process. These reports will be collated and analysed to allow the development of key facts/guide to good practice to support future DPPs in the operation of the role in community pharmacy. For more information please contact
enquiries@cps.scot
Janice Oman Scotland Representation Manager
reviewed. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that each pharmacist completes a vaccination skills assessment each year to self-check their own competency to provide vaccination skills, both NHS and private. See
www.npa.co.uk/pgd/ training-recommendations
Vaccination training and support The NPA is pleased to offer competitive prices and member discounts to support service delivery, including vaccination training and service support (eTools and PGDs). Detailed information on 2023 vaccination and service packages, flu service support and other help is also available. Visit
www.npa.co.uk/pgd to view all the information.
Ask Your Pharmacist Week theme The theme of this year’s Ask Your Pharmacist Week, which runs from Tuesday 31 October -Tuesday 7 November, is ‘Meet Your Pharmacy Team’. This week aims to highlight and showcase the important role community pharmacies have and if you wish to get involved, please contact NPA Head of Communications Stephen Fishwick at
s.fishwick@
npa.co.uk.
More details about ‘Ask Your Pharmacy Week’ will be released shortly.
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