COVID-19 Updates - Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire

Pharmacy Advice Audit Extended 2021
If you have not already done so, please complete the PSNC Pharmacy Advice Audit before close of
play on Friday 5th February 2021. The audit will help gather data about patients seeking informal
advice to help push for fair funding for community pharmacy. Details of the audit, team briefing
and digital guide (short video) are available here.

Thank you to the contractors who have already completed the audit and submitted on
PharmOutcomes. Your data will provide crucial evidence for ongoing funding discussions with HM
Government and the NHS.

COVID-19 Updates
West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Vaccination Bulletin
The latest vaccination bulletin from West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership can
be found below.

       Vaccination Bulletin

RPS Resources to Help you through the Pandemic
The RPS has put together all their resources to help you though the
pandemic. From pharmacy guidelines and information on vaccines,
to events and guides to help you stay current. Check out the RPS
COVID-19 Hub: https://rpharms.co.uk/EQ-77R4B-4AXLSI-4BZC9B-
1/c.aspx

Elland Road Vaccine Hub Recruitment
The Leeds vaccination programme is looking for qualified registered health workers to be part of
the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Leeds. To be eligible you could be a qualified nurse,
pharmacist, allied health professional or other registered practitioner working in the NHS or
independent sectors. The programme is looking for people who can commit to a fixed term
contract, and be willing (and able) to work at least 12 hours a week for up to six months. As the
Elland Road site will be open seven days a week, there will be flexible working options. Any
employee considering this option must have a conversation with their employer first before
applying.

Find out more on Leeds Clinical Commission Group’s website. If you have any questions about the
roles or wish to discuss them in more detail, please contact the Vaccination Hub Recruitment Lead
Cara Francis-Owen via cara.francis-owen1@nhs.net.

Our dedicated COVID-19 email covid-19@cpwy.org is still available for contractors to flag any
                   concerns or issues or to request advice or assistance.

Services Information
Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire has a Services Checklist to help contractors with the different
services offered, where to claim and when to claim by. The Services Checklist has been recently
updated in February 2021 and can be found on our website here.

The NHS Discharge Medicines Service
Please act now. Only 12 days to go! Contractors need to be ready to deliver this service from the
15th of February 2021.

Have you seen the CPWY bulletin on the Discharge Medicines Service here?

The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) becomes a new Essential Service from 15th February 2021
and MUST then be provided by all community pharmacies, as part of their Terms of Service. The
DMS builds on the work that has been undertaken over recent years as part of the national Transfer
of Care Around Medicines (TCAM) programme, referred to locally as Connect with Pharmacy. From
the 15th February 2021, the DMS will replace Connect with Pharmacy and NHS Trusts will be able to
refer patients, (via the PharmOutcomes platform), who would benefit from extra guidance around
newly prescribed medicines, for this service. Please see our first bulletin on the DMS service here
for local information about this service and to find out what you need to do now. For further
information on the service please see the PSNC page on DMS here.

Preparing to Provide the Discharge Medicines Service – ACTION REQUIRED

   •   DECLARATION OF COMPETENCE NOW LIVE ON CPPE WEBSITE. Contractors must start to
       prepare for the service going live. The Declaration of Competence (DoC) to support the
       provision of the DMS, which pharmacists and pharmacy technicians involved in providing the
       service will need to complete, is now available on the CPPE website here.

   •   CPPE NHS DISCHARGE MEDICINES SERVICE TRAINING. Contractors must ensure that staff
       are competent to provide this service. Where there is any doubt, seek further training in
       readiness for service commencement on 15th February 2021. It is strongly recommended
       that all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians delivering this service complete the CPPE NHS
       Discharge Medicines Service training to reinforce their knowledge. Update and training
       materials are available here.

Palliative Care Service – Reminder to Submit Your Quarterly Audit
If you are a pharmacy that provides the Palliative Care Service, please remember to submit your
quarterly audit return for the latest quarter (October to December 2020) as soon as possible to
trigger payment for your pharmacy (note - this must be done before the end of February 2021
otherwise you will not be paid). The quarterly audit submission should be completed on the
PharmOutcomes platform – see “Palliative Care Service (NHS England) – Quarterly Audit”.

Note, the quarterly audit is a separate requirement to the weekly stock report (COVID-19 additional
requirements) which some palliative care pharmacies have also signed up to provide.

Flu Service 2020/21 Updates
Flu Programme Continuing
Thank you to all our wonderful pharmacy teams for their incredible work in vaccinating over 100,000
patients in West Yorkshire. Please continue your efforts on the flu vaccination programme, which
will run until March 2021. There is still some way to go to achieve the uptake ambitions for those
who are clinically at risk so please keep promoting vaccination to this cohort. Additionally, people
in the 50-64 year old cohort are being encouraged to get a flu vaccination and NHSE&I has sent out
letters to people in this cohort, (not in at risk groups), who have not yet had their vaccination, asking
them to arrange one and highlighting that pharmacies can provide this free service.

Flu and the COVID-19 Vaccine
Some patients may ask about COVID-19 vaccination and whether flu vaccination is still required. The
message for patients is that they still need to get the flu vaccine even if they will be getting the
COVID-19 vaccine soon, as the COVID-19 vaccine will not protect them against the flu or stop them
spreading the flu virus.

Co-administration of flu and COVID-19 vaccine - regarding the co-administration of the flu and
COVID-19 vaccine, there is no evidence of any safety concerns, although it may make the attribution
of any adverse events more difficult. If patients are called to get a COVID-19 vaccination within seven
days of receiving their flu vaccination, in the majority of cases, vaccination with the COVID-19
vaccine will proceed to avoid any further delay in protection. The suggested seven-day gap between
the flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine is recommended so that if patients experience any side-
effects, it will be easier to identify which vaccine caused them. Further information here.

Information for Pharmacies across West Yorkshire
Deadline Tracker – February 2021

Please see our February 2021 Deadline Tracker below. We would welcome
feedback so we can make improvements in future editions. Please send any
comments or suggestions to info@cpwy.org.

       Deadline Tracker – February 2021

Important: 2021/22 Bank Holiday Template
NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) has sent all pharmacy contractors a Bank Holiday
Template for 2021/22 and a letter on Tuesday 26th January 2021.

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This was sent to your pharmacy NHSmail address. NHSE&I has requested that all contractors
complete and return the Bank Holiday Template to england.wyat-phes@nhs.net no later than
Friday 12th February 2021. Following submission, if you need to make any changes please ensure
you let NHSE&I know as far in advance as possible and consider any timescales (notice) required for
each of the specific dates. PSNC has a useful guide to this year’s Bank / Public holidays, see here.

Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2020/21 – Making Your PQS Declaration and Claim
for Payment
Contractors will be able to make their PQS 2020/21 payment declaration from Thursday 4th
February 2021 through until Monday 1st March 2021. Please see the PNSC website for more
information and guidance about completing your declaration. The main payment declaration for
the PQS must be submitted online via the MYS portal.

Contractors are advised to complete their submissions early in the declaration window to ensure
that they meet the specified declaration timescales. MYS allows a contractor to start their
declaration and then return to it later should this be necessary. Where a declaration has been
started but not submitted, it will not be eligible for payment.

Is Your Pharmacy’s Shared NHSmail Address Registered for the Central Alerting
System (CAS)?
The Central Alerting System (CAS) is a web-based cascading system operated by the Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for issuing patient safety alerts, important public
health messages and other safety critical information and guidance to the NHS and others, including
community pharmacies. Contractors must register their pharmacy’s shared NHSmail account to
receive CAS alerts direct from the MHRA, as part of their Terms of Service.

If you need support to register a shared NHSmail account with CAS, please email
safetyalerts@mhra.gov.uk. Please note - all pharmacy shared NHSmail accounts should now be in
the format pharmacy.fcode@nhs.net. Please check you are using this format for your email address,
longer versions of the above will NOT receive messages from CAS and must be changed to the new
format. If you are having difficulties with activating your account, contact pharmacyadmin@nhs.net,
who will support you through the process.

If a contractor creates or changes their shared NHSmail account email address, they must
immediately notify the MHRA of the new address by emailing safetyalerts@mhra.gov.uk.

Structured Medication Review & Type 2 Diabetes Webinar
Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs) continue to form a key work stream for pharmacy teams in
Primary Care Networks. Patients living with diabetes are a targeted group that would benefit from
SMRs. Join this live upcoming webinar with an expert speaker who will be sharing best practices
and give you the opportunity to have your questions answered. The webinar is taking place on
Wednesday 10th February 2021 at 7pm. Further information including the agenda for the webinar
can be found here.

       Structured Medication Review & Type 2 Diabetes Webinar Flyer

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Key News and Guidance: The Latest Updates from PSNC
•   PQS Completing your Declaration
•   PQS Declaration Delay in Opening of Portal
•   PDA Launches Web Portal to Support Locums Getting Vaccinated
•   CPCS IT Support Extended until 30th September 2021
•   PPE Claim Deadline and Payment Dates

This information can be found in the PSNC Key News and Guidance document below. Please ensure
you are regularly checking your emails for updates from PSNC. PSNC’s Key News and Guidance
document can be found below. Sign up to PSNC’s mailing list here to receive regular updates.

       PSNC Key News and Guidance: COVID-19 – 31st January 2021

Training and Development
Reset and Recover Programme: All Modules Still Available!
All modules are still available on demand! Details of how to access the modules, see our website
here. Registration is required to view the modules via these links to ensure we have visibility of who
is accessing them. Don't delay in accessing this programme as it is only available for a fixed time.

CPWY e-Learning
Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire is working with Virtual Outcomes to
deliver a series of online training events throughout the year.

An introduction video for Virtual Outcomes can be found here. More information about the
different Virtual Outcomes modules that are available can be found on our website here.

NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (NHS 111 and GP) - January 2021

Do you know how to implement and deliver the new pharmacy service NHS GP CPCS? How are you
going to train your locums and surgeries? What part can your team play?

What other resources are available to support this new service? This comprehensive online training
will cover all these questions.
More information can be found in the flyer below or on the Virtual Outcomes website here.

       NHS CPCS (NHS 111 and GP) e-Learning Flyer

CPPE Events
The current portfolio of online events available through CPPE is available below:

       CPPE Workshops and Learning Resources - January to March 2021

If you would like any additional information or have any queries, the CPPE regional tutor can be
contacted via email:Deborah.needham@cppe.ac.uk.

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Other Information
CPWY Connect
CPWY Connect has been set up on the social media site Telegram with the aim of
connecting pharmacy teams across West Yorkshire and we’d love you to join by
clicking here.

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