Monthly planner

Things to do and know in community pharmacy across the UK

NEW GPhC REQUIREMENTS

From 21 November, under a new law to improve public protection, all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, regardless of where they qualified, need to show they can practise safely by having the necessary knowledge of the English language. Also, the GPhC has changed the way it requests registrants to declare their professional indemnity arrangements.
More at npa.co.uk/news. UK

ONLINE SAFETY INCIDENT REPORT FORM, SCOTLAND
NPA members can now use the online ‘NPA Patient Safety Incident report form – Scotland’ to report patient safety incidents, including near misses and errors, in an anonymous, systematic and quick to use format. For help, contact our NPA Scotland Representation Manager at j.oman@npa.co.uk. SCOTLAND

NEW CONTRACT ELEMENTS COMPLIANCE

The Scottish Government has detailed specific contractor activities required for the Quality Improvement Methodology and Closer Working Partnership payments, in NHS Circular: PCA (P)(2016) 15. The payments, which were announced in July and paid in October, require contractors to declare compliance by the end of March 2017. SCOTLAND

PLAN FOR HEALTH+PHARMACY ACCREDITATION

Use some time post holiday season to progress towards accreditation, before the June 2017 deadline. Download the NPA toolkit from npa.co.uk to support you in the implementation of the H+P quality standards. NORTHERN IRELAND

ETC NOW IN THE DRUG TARIFF

The latest deployment date for Electronic Transmission of Claims (ETC) is now in the Drug Tariff. The Drug Tariff entry confirms that that deployment will start from April 2017 and will be completed no later than 31 October 2017. WALES

PHARMACY ACCESS SCHEME (PhAS) – ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?

Certain contractors who were not initially included on the list of pharmacies eligible for the PhAS may qualify for a review. Applications for review are being accepted now, and must be made by 28 February 2017. For further details on eligibility visit npa.co.uk. ENGLAND

PREPARE FOR CPAF VISITS

From 1 December, NHS England has been selecting pharmacies for a full contract monitoring visit between Jan-Mar 2017. Download resources to prepare for a visit from the NPA Business Efficiency Solutions pack at npa.co.uk. ENGLAND

REGULATION AMENDMENTS FROM DECEMBER

Amendments to the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 (2013 Regulations) came into force on 5 December. These amendments implement changes to the 2016/17 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. Further details at npa.co.uk/news. ENGLAND