• Staying healthy in the heat – advice for patients

    The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued another heat-health alert for the next few days. During this heatwave, the public may turn to community pharmacy teams for advice about staying well during the hot weather or to seek assistance when feeling unwell because of the heat. PSNC has previously developed materials that may be

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  • Medicine Supply Notification: Insulin isophane biphasic human 50/50 (Insuman® Comb 50) 100units/ml suspension for injection 3ml cartridge

    Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply notification for Insulin isophane biphasic human 50/50 (Insuman® Comb 50) 100units/ml suspension for injection 3ml cartridge. MSN/2022/067 Tier 2 – medium impact Date of issue 8th August 2022 Insuman® Comb 50 100units/ml suspension for injection 3ml cartridges has been discontinued with stocks being

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  • Company led medicines recall: Sodium Chloride Eye Drops 5% 1x10ml (unlicensed medicine) Stockport Pharmaceuticals

    CLMR number: CLMR (22)A/06 Date issued: 8th August 2022 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a company-led drug recall for: Sodium Chloride Eye Drops 5% 1x10ml (unlicensed medicine) Stockport Pharmaceuticals. Batch number Expiry Date Pack Size First Distributed C104308 27/04/2023 10ml 09/06/2021 Active ingredient: Sodium Chloride Stockport Pharmaceuticals are recalling the

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  • CPAF screening process – open for a few more weeks

    Community pharmacy contractors are reminded that they have until midnight on Wednesday 31st August 2022 to complete the 2022/23 Community Pharmacy Assurance Framework (CPAF) screening questionnaire.   As a result of NHS regulations introduced at the end of 2020, completion of CPAF is now a requirement of the Terms of Service. Therefore, contractors must complete the screening

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  • Managing a temporary pharmacy closure

    If an emergency situation means a pharmacy needs to close for a short period, there are actions a contractor needs to undertake to ensure patients are able to access their prescriptions and that the contractor’s business can resume easily and effectively once the emergency has passed. The following PSNC Briefing provides guidance on planning which

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  • NHS 111 referrals outage

    NHS England has informed PSNC that there is currently (5th August 2022) an IT system outage with the Adastra system, used by many NHS 111 service providers across England. This is affecting services that receive electronic referrals and bookings from NHS 111, including referrals to the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS). Each region of England

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  • July Price Concessions Final Update

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has today (03/08/2022) granted the following final list of price concessions: Drug Pack size Price concession Calcipotriol 0.005% / Betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% gel 60 £36.13 Duloxetine 30mg gastro-resistant capsules 28 £4.28 Duloxetine 60mg gastro-resistant capsules 28 £6.91 Fluoxetine 20mg/5ml oral solution 70 £3.79 Risperidone 500microgram tablets 20

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  • NHS Prescription Services ‘Hints & Tips’ – Issue 48

    NHS Prescription Services produces a quarterly newsletter called “Hints & Tips for dispensing contractors”. The latest edition (Issue 48) contains some useful information and advice on: Batch submissions – Account Identifier DocumentLicensed medicinesRTEC DWP work completeNMS returns not required Q1DDA conference – book your placeEndorsing SSPsdm+d browserElectronic Repeat Dispensing To view current and previous issues

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  • Adjusted price for Promethazine hydrochloride 10mg tablets following price changes in July 2022

    During the month of July 2022, PSNC received several reports from contractors unable to obtain Promethazine hydrochloride 10mg tablets (56) at the published Drug Tariff price of £4.24. PSNC submitted a request for a price concession, which was granted and subsequently published but this was later withdrawn after confirmation from the Department of Health and

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  • 28 products added to the Discount Not Deducted (DND) list from August 2022

    Following applications made by PSNC to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), a further 28 new products entered the list of ‘Drugs for which Discount is Not Deducted’ (DND) in Part II of the Drug Tariff from 1 August 2022: Click here to view the 28 products

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