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This month's news from the National Pharmacy Association...

We are beyond delighted that our colleagues at NPA Insurance (NPAI) won the Specialist Coverage Award at the National Insurance Awards 2025.

NPAI takes pride in ‘following where pharmacy goes’ – facilitating pharmacies to take on ever more clinical duties. Congratulations to the team, who are there to support pharmacies everywhere.

Guidance on reducing your opening hours

Please read our guidance on reducing your pharmacy opening hours and taking other actions to reduce costs: Search ‘opening hours’ on our MembershipHub.

Core hours cannot be amended without prior approval from the relevant commissioner. If you are unsure of your core and supplementary hours, you can confirm these with the commissioner.

When considering a reduction in opening hours, pharmacies should evaluate the potential impact on service users, including those relying on substance misuse services.

It would be advisable to inform such patientsof any such changes. This can be done by displaying a visible flyer in the pharmacy window.

Important patient safety updates

Valproate drug safety update

MHRA has issued a Drug Safety update clarifying the prescribing restrictions for patients who are taking, or are initiated, on valproate containing medicines.

MHRA Drug Safety Update on Opioids

Due to the increased risk of persistent post-operative opioid use (PPOU) and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment (OIVI), all prolonged release opioids are no longer licenced for the treatment of post-operative pain.

MHRA Drug Safety Update on GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists

For January 2025, the MHRA Drug Safety Update includes guidance on the potential risk of pulmonary aspiration during general anaesthesia or deep sedation with GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists.

National Patient Safety Alert ... has been issued by DHSC on the discontinuation of Promixin (colistimethate) 1-million unit powderfor nebuliser solution unit dose vials from early May 2025, with stocks anticipated to be exhausted by this date.

Pharmacies must separate their waste

From 31 March 2025, in England all workplaces (businesses and non-domestic premises) have a legal duty to separate the waste they produce in accordance with their waste collector’s arrangements. Please note: this requirement is outside of the Disposal of Unwanted Medicines EssentialService.

Creon supplies

From 1 March 2025, all orders of licensed Creon preparations should be placed directly with Alliance Healthcare UK. Viatris have a dedicated Creon customer support line and they can be contacted on 0800 8086410.

NHS prescription exemption changes

From 5 April 2025, patients who hold a tax credit exemption certifi cate will no longer be automatically entitled to free NHS prescriptions. Patients currently receiving tax credits will be moved to Universal Credit, and so they must meet the Universal Credit prescription exemption criteria.

Develop your Pharmacy team with the NPA Pharmacy Technician Course

Looking to take the next step in your pharmacy career? The NPA Pharmacy Technician Course provides the essential knowledge and skills you need to become a registered Pharmacy Technician.

This comprehensive, General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)-approved programme covers all aspects of pharmacy practice, from medicines management to patient care, ensuring you are fully equipped for the role.

• GPhC-approved qualifi cation

• Blended learning – study online and in practice

• Support from expert tutors

• Flexible learning to fi t around work.

Enrol today and become a vital part of the pharmacyteam!

NPA support for independent prescribers

With pharmacists graduating with their independent prescribing (IP) qualification next year due to the changes in initial education and training standards for pharmacists, it’s a critical time to think about the support for these newly qualified pharmacists and for those already IP qualified, plus others thinking about going on the journey.

The NPA has been busy developing materials to support clinical governance including risk management, which are now housed on our independent prescribing website pages.

For newly qualified independent prescribers in England, there are currently limited NHS opportunities to utilise their IP qualification, apart from the pathfinder schemes, with most opportunities available through the private route.

Our ‘future pharmacy’ programme will enable our members to defi ne their needs and embark confi dently on the journey of private provision, deploying independent prescribing.

For members who are struggling to fi nd Designated Prescribing Practitioners (DPPs), the NPA is sourcing an affordable matching service to enable our members to find a suitable DPP so they can enrol on an IP course of their choosing.

We always will ask members to see whether they can fi nd a suitable DPP in their local network by speaking to their stakeholders as well as the regional NHS England teams. For more information, go to the NPA Membership Hub and search ‘prescribing’.

Independent Prescribing Hub

Community pharmacy teams looking to start a prescribing service should take a look at the NPA resources on our IP Hub. Search ‘prescribing’ on our Membership Hub.

Locum insurance enhancements

Did you know that NPA Insurance (NPAI) recently enhanced its Professional Indemnity policy for Locum Pharmacists to include private and NHS prescribing cover for weight loss and other areas of competence?

Cover is available for locums working in pharmacy, general practice and hospital settings, and provides access to NPAI’s award-winning claims team.

As part of its professional indemnity policy refresh, NPAI’s Locum Pharmacist Professional Indemnity policy now provides policyholders working across primary care, hospital and pharmacy settings with an extended breadth of cover.

This includes, as standard, the delivery of the NHS Pharmacy First Service, expanded NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service and re-launched NHS Hypertension Case-Finding Service.

NPAI’s enhanced locum cover also no longer charges for vaccine administration, including COVID, flu and travel. Locum pharmacists can purchase additional cover for both NHS and private independent prescribing, for specialist treatments such as administering Botox, non-permanent dermal fillers, cryotherapy, and bespoke policies tailored to your specialist needs.

NPAI offers independent prescribers with Designated Prescribing Practitioner cover, enabling the training of newly qualifi ed independent prescribers.

This reflects NPAI’s commitment to protect the evolution of community pharmacy, by enabling the independent prescribers of the future to practice. Lisa Banks, MD of NPA Pharmacy Insurance, explains: “Our unrivalled knowledge and legal perspective of protection provides our policyholders with a genuinely holistic approach to risk and claims management.”

NPAI’s in-house team of qualified lawyers, underwriting and claims management specialists allows it to deliver a tailored and supportive customer experience when it is most needed.

Locums can talk to its expert teams for specialist, professional legal advice relating to all aspects of pharmacy business.

Lisa points out: “Unlike other pharmacy indemnity providers, we are the underwriter and make decisions on cover which are not restrained by bureaucratic processes, or changes in risk appetite. We can flex our agility to provide bespoke insurance solutions for each individual case, and our qualifi ed lawyers have the autonomy to make quick and informed decisions.

"We leverage this experience to anticipate emerging risk and ensure relevant cover is in place to mitigate claims. Our policy holders are allocated a dedicated lawyer for the duration of the claim, to ensure they receive the best service and support when they need it most.”

NPAI’s wealth of experience and collaborative, dynamic approach to claims handling means it can often settle cases after the fi rst phone call, before matters escalate, enabling the team to mitigate claims and provide the best outcome for its policy holders.

Every member of the team has the expertise and knowledge to be able to assist with any of the jeopardies locums face, be it a medical negligence claim, regulatory matter or help with a complaint. NPAI locum policy holders can also benefit from the National Pharmacy Associations’ wealth of online resources for a discounted price.

Policy holders can become an NPA Associated Pharmacist, and gain access to training, an advice and support line for clinical queries, drug tariff and medicine safety guidance and SOPs.

To find out more about NPAI’s enhanced locum cover contact us at membersupport@npa.co.uk or call 01727 800 410.

National Pharmacy Association Board update: new term begins April

Following elections, the NPA can announce the members of the NPA board for the period April 2025 to March 2027 (not including the board representative for Northern Ireland, for whom a process is continuing). David Thomas (Wales) and Mike Hewitson (Englandmembers with fewer than fi ve branches) are joining 10 other existing board members, aslisted:

• Baldev Bange

• Sukhi Basra

• Ashley Cohen

• Sanjay Ganvir

• Salim Jetha

• Nick Kaye

• Aisling O’Brien

• Sanjeev Panesar

• Olivier Picard

• Sehar Shahid (Scotland).

The association is saying a fond farewell to several long-serving colleagues who have served with distinction their maximum permissible term, under new governance arrangements: RajAggarwal OBE, DrIan Cubbin, Michael Guerin, Andrew Lane and Raj Patel MBE.

The roles of chair, vice chair, treasurer and other positions will be confirmed at a meeting of the new board later this monthl. Current chair, Nick Kaye, said: “We welcome the new board members to the dynamic, diverse and determined national leadership of independent communitypharmacy”.

“This is a highly challenging period for the entire sector, so it’s great that the board is of such calibre and passionate about supporting and representing independent community pharmacists across the UK.

“At the same time, I want to acknowledge the work of our distinguished departing board members, who have given so much of their time and expertise to help steer this organisation and maintain its century-long position at the beating heart of independent community pharmacy.”

NPA initial response to community pharmacy funding announcement

Funding arrangements for community pharmacies in England have been announced, for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The NPA regards the deal as a step forward, but it falls well short of meeting the full costs of providing pharmacy services.

Nick Kaye, chair of the NPA, said: “Pharmacies will be relieved to have certainty about their financial position and news of the first increase in their funding for 11 years. After a decade of 40 per cent cuts to their funding – that has left the pharmacy network on its knees – it is good to see a concrete sign that ministers want to support pharmacies, which have so much potential to achieve the government’s vision of care closer to communities.

“However, the truth is that because of a decade of neglect it also falls a long way short of the NHS’s own estimates of the true cost of providing pharmacy services.

“We stand ready to work with ministers to close the funding gap, reform the system and deliver the sustainable, stronger pharmacy service that millions of people need so much.”

For more on the NPA’s stance, plus practical guidance about the new contractual arrangements, check the NPA Membership Hub.