Victoria Atkins MP has been appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as part of a Ministerial reshuffle. She replaces Steve Barclay MP who becomes Environment Secretary. Victoria Atkins has been the Conservative MP for Louth and Horncastle since 2015. She was previously the Financial Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022. Other
Read moreLast month, the Drug Tariff was updated to include a deadline for submission of any outstanding referred back (unpaid) prescriptions to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) for payment. Following this update, NHSBSA has seen a spike in the number of referred back prescriptions submitted by pharmacies in the past month. Community Pharmacy England would like to
Read moreDepartment of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply notification for Co-trimoxazole 40mg/200mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free. MSN/2023/103 Tier 2 – medium impact Date of issue 17th November 2023 Co-trimoxazole 40mg/200mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free is out of stock until early February 2024 Co-trimoxazole 80mg/400mg/5ml oral suspension remains available and can support
Read moreThis week we have invited MPs from all political parties to attend a Parliamentary drop-in event on winter pressures to learn more about community pharmacy. The event in Westminster will be a good chance to brief MPs about the current winter pressures that pharmacies, like all parts of the NHS, are grappling with, but also
Read moreNHS Prescription Services produces a quarterly newsletter called “Hints & Tips for dispensing contractors”. The latest edition (Issue 53) contains some useful information and advice on: What to include in the red separator Changes to print colour and dispensing tokens (FP10DT) How to avoid refer backs Water for injections – endorsement and reimbursement Hypromellose 0.3%
Read moreAs part of the Year 4 & 5 funding settlement for community pharmacy, it was agreed that an urgent review of the price concession setting system would take place. Since this announcement, Community Pharmacy England has been working with Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to determine improvements to the price concession system. As part of a
Read moreFrom 1 November 2023, the list of medicines covered by the HRT prepayment certificate (HRT PPC) will be updated to include a new brand of progesterone micronised capsules, Gepretix®. Part XVI of the November 2023 Drug Tariff will be updated to include the following new HRT medicine for which patients will be able to purchase an
Read moreFollowing discussions between Community Pharmacy England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding medicine pricing issues reported by pharmacy owners, the Department has today (31/10/2023) announced the following final list of price concessions for October 2023: Drug Pack size Price concession Atomoxetine 10mg capsules 28 £45.59 Amisulpride 200mg tablets 60 £31.19 Betahistine 16mg
Read moreA new Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Drug Safety Update (Vol 17 Issue 3 October 2023) has been published and includes articles on: Isotretinoin (Roaccutane▼): introduction of new safety measures, including additional oversight of the initiation of treatment for patients under 18 years of age MedSafetyWeek November 2023: your Yellow Card report helps
Read moreCommunity pharmacy owners are being asked to share their views on the coming winter and beyond, ahead of the next full Community Pharmacy England Committee meeting which will be held in November. This committee meeting comes at a critical time as the unsustainable pressures on community pharmacies continue through the autumn period, and our Committee
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