Archives: Contractor Email

Dear Colleague

The first update of concessionary prices were granted for April 2022:

Drug	Pack Size	Concessionary Price
Aqueous cream	100	£0.74
Atenolol 50mg tablets	28	£0.82
Celecoxib 200mg capsules	30	£7.21
Clarithromycin 500mg tablets	14	£1.78
Co-amilozide 5mg/50mg tablets	28	£19.80
Cyclizine 50mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules	5	£6.45
Dorzolamide 20mg/ml eye drops	5	£1.99
Esomeprazole 20mg gastro-resistant tablets	28	£5.25
Esomeprazole 40mg gastro-resistant tablets	28	£5.50
Famotidine 20mg tablets	28	£17.95
Famotidine 40mg tablets	28	£25.54
Hydroxocobalamin 1mg/1ml solution for injection ampoules	5	£5.75
Ibuprofen 100mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free	100	£3.75
Lansoprazole 15mg orodispersible tablets	28	£2.99
Lansoprazole 30mg orodispersible tablets	28	£4.97
Loratadine 5mg/5ml oral solution	100	£5.39
Losartan 100mg tablets	28	£3.00
Losartan 12.5mg tablets	28	£7.19
Losartan 25mg tablets	28	£1.54
Losartan 50mg tablets	28	£2.06
Metformin 500mg/5ml oral solution sugar free	150	£32.17
Methocarbamol 750mg tablets	100	£12.68
Midazolam 10mg/2ml solution for injection ampoules	10	£6.22
Mometasone 0.1% ointment	100	£9.92
Mometasone 0.1% ointment	30	£4.60
Montelukast 4mg granules sachets sugar free	28	£6.04
Naftidrofuryl 100mg capsules	84	£7.99
Nizatidine 150mg capsules	30	£23.95
Nortriptyline 10mg tablets	100	£1.97
Nortriptyline 25mg tablets	100	£1.99
Ropinirole 250microgram tablets	12	£3.73
Ropinirole 2mg tablets	28	£17.70
Ropinirole 500microgram tablets	28	£6.00
Sodium bicarbonate 500mg capsules	56	£3.99
Tolterodine 2mg tablets	56	£2.92
Topiramate 100mg tablets	60	£2.89
Topiramate 25mg tablets	60	£1.89
Topiramate 50mg tablets	60	£1.95
Valsartan 80mg capsules	28	£3.95

Concessionary prices will be paid against the usual code, no additional endorsements are needed.

Concessionary prices may be granted up until the end of the month so CPNI will notify you of any further concessionary prices as and when they are agreed.

Please continue to notify CPNI of any pricing issues you are experiencing via our new Medicine Shortage Reporter. Concessionary prices are also published on the CPNI website.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence HERE from SPPG Pharmacy and Medicines Management.

SUMMARY

• From the 23 April 2022 the service specification and eligibility for this service are changing.
• To view the updated specification for this service, please see HERE.
• The purpose of the updated Pharmacy Collect NI service is to provide access to LFD test kits at community pharmacies for specified groups as directed by the Department of Health NI available at HERE.

ACTION

• Contractors are asked to review the correspondence.
• Contractors are asked to update relevant SOPs in light of these changes and make staff aware.
• If you have any queries in relation to the changes please contact your local Integrated Care Office.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence HERE from Kathryn Turner, Pharmacy Lead HSCB.

SUMMARY

• It is recommended that the Spring Booster in all Care Homes in Northern Ireland, should be completed no later than the end of May 2022 to avoid having a knock on impact on the timing of a possible autumn vaccination programme.
• To provide a dashboard to review the weekly vaccination activity and to monitor that all care homes are paired with a community pharmacy to offer vaccinations to their residents, an electronic form has been developed to collate data on CPVS clinics that are planned to take place in Care Homes and can be found at HERE.
• The SSPG pharmacy team will also be reviewing separate data from RQIA to capture vaccinations figures from care homes on a weekly basis.

ACTION

• Contractors are asked to review the correspondence.
• Contractors are asked to complete the submission form each Wednesday.
  • All care home vaccinations must be recorded on VMS in the usual manner.
  • Payment for the vaccination service continues to be based on the VMS data entries
• If you have any queries please contact Deirdre McAree at deirdre.mcaree@hscni.net.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence HERE from Margaret O’Brien, AD and Head of General Medical Services, Kathryn Turner, Pharmacy Lead, Strategic Planning and Performance Group and Rodney Morton, Director Nursing and AHP, Public Health Agency.

SUMMARY

• Care homes residents are vulnerable to COVID-19. For the COVID-19 Spring booster, participating community pharmacies will offer COVID-19 booster vaccination to care home residents during April and May 2022.
• The attached correspondence gives guidance to community pharmacy teams, GPs and Care Home Managers on a range of issues including:
  • Best interest decisions
  • Existing information to help a community pharmacist to make a best interest decision in a care home environment
  • Information from GPs for new residents or other situations
  • Role of the Care Home Managers for the Spring Booster Programme

ACTION

• Contractors and community pharmacists providing this service to care homes are asked to review the correspondence.
• Community pharmacists will forward a Pharmacy Proforma to care home managers in advance of the planned vaccination date. This must be completed by the care home and returned to Community Pharmacists prior to the date of clinics
• If contractors or community pharmacists have any queries about this service, please contact your local SPPG Integrated Care Office.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

Dear Colleague

Please find correspondence HERE from Kathryn Turner, Pharmacy Lead, Strategic Planning and Performance Group.

SUMMARY

• The Community Pharmacy Emergency Supply during a Pandemic Service commenced on Monday 6 April 2020 in order to ensure continuity of supply of essential repeat medicines to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The purpose of this letter is to confirm that the pandemic service can continue to be provided in its current format whilst formalised funding arrangements are being finalised for the 2022/23 year.
• To inform the development of the routine emergency supply service a community pharmacy survey, capturing data on all patients who requested an emergency supply was undertaken. A summary of the survey’s findings can be viewed HERE.
• Feedback from other key stakeholders will also be sought to inform the development of the updated emergency supply service.

ACTION

• Contractors are asked to review the correspondence.
• If contractors have any queries about the service, please contact your local SPPG Integrated Care Office.
• Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams, including details of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BSO ALERTS 

• Weekly Drug Alerts are available here.
• Weekly Shortages Information is available here.
  • Benperidol 250mcg tablets 5 April 2022
• Serious Shortage Protocols are available here.

CPNI ALERTS 

• Living Well: Know Check Ask Campaign 6 April 2022
  • To submit an evaluation for the last campaign, “Making Healthier Choices”, please access the survey HERE, before 2 May 2022
• Cyber Security: eLearning Programme 4 April 2022

SPPG ALERTS 

• Counter Fraud: Missing Prescription(s) 8 April 2022
• Learning from Adverse Incidents: Inappropriate Prescription Requests 8 April 2022
• Update G12 COVID-CPVS Pharmacy Spring Booster Care Home Campaign 7 April 2022
  • To access the reporting form described in the letter, please click HERE
• Levomepromazine 25mg/ml Injection: Resumption of Business as Usual Ordering Arrangements 8 April 2022
• Modified Release Metformin to be Prescribed and Dispensed Generically 7 April 2022

DoH(NI) ALERTS 

Transition of the Operation Control of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme to the PHA 5 April 2022

Please bring this to the attention of your pharmacy team(s).

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s Contractor Calendar and Contractor Emails Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via the CPNI’s Medicine Shortage Reporter and Situation Reporter.

Kind regards