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

A big thank you...

to all pharmacies and pharmacy stakeholders taking part in our protests on fair funding.

Thousands of pharmacies across the UK took place in a second day of action on 19 September, highlighting unsustainable funding cuts.

As with the first Save Our Pharmacies protest organised by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) in June, pharmacies took a number of symbolic actions such as blacking out windows to warn against the risk of further closures – 1500 have closed in a decade!

Meanwhile, pharmacy leaders delivered a 350,000-strong signature petition to Downing Street, calling for ‘immediate, fair and sustained funding, to safeguard NHS pharmacy services and ensure local pharmacies have a future’.

Joining the NPA at Downing Street were representatives from Community Pharmacy England, Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland and the Company Chemists’ Association.

In the national media, NPA chair Nick Kaye opened the day on BBC1 Breakfast News, minutes later appearing on Radio 4’s fl agship Today programme. Shortly afterwards, NPA chief executive Paul Rees was on the ITV Good Morning Britain sofa, with Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway after a big segment featuring the daily life of our member Chris Naidu in Cornwall.

Our vice chair Olivier Picard appeared on BBC1 news bulletins and ITV from his pharmacy in Berkshire. We also did interviews for Channel 5 with NPA member Patricia Ojo; Channel 4 with NPA board member Sukhi Basra; and board member Ashley Cohen appeared throughout the day on GB News.

Stories on the funding crisis were running in virtually all the national newspapers, including The Sun and Mirror - with The Mirror creating its own #SaveOurPharmacies logo, in support of our campaign.

This second day of action built on the momentum of the fi rst, to make sure politicians and senior NHS officials are in no doubt about the precarious state of the UK’s precious community pharmacy network. A big thank you! #saveourpharmacies

Here are some of the scenes from the day – is your picture here?

Pharmacies to ballot on work torule action in protest at cuts

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is balloting its members for the first time ever on work to rule action in protest at a decade of budget cuts.

The ballot asks pharmacies if they would be willing to cut their opening hours to contract minimums and withdraw free deliveries and free medicine dispensing packs, if the financial situation for pharmacies does not improve.

It also asks pharmacies if they will boycott data collection beyond that required in their NHS contract and consider serving notice on a range of locally contracted services, negotiated directly with local authorities.

A motion included in the ballot says: We put the Department of Health and NHS England on notice that we cannot guarantee community pharmacy services will remain safe into the future if the current depressed funding, pharmacy closures and increasing workload continues - and we therefore demand immediate material improvements to the financial position of community pharmacy and the implementation of a roadmap to sustainable funding sufficient to guarantee patient safety for the future. [NB this wording is correct at the time of NPAessential going to print – check the NPA website for the full and final version].

Paul Rees, chief executive of the NPA, said: “It pains us to take this step but pharmacies are being pushed to the brink by a decade of real terms cuts that has slashed 40% from their funding.

“Pharmacies are routinely required to dispense NHS medicines at a loss – 1,500 have been forced to close in the past decade, while others have had to cut hours to try and make ends meet.

"That is not acceptable and is hitting patients hard. “We desperately want to work with Wes Streeting and the new government to unleash the vast potential of pharmacies to deliver the better health in the community that we all want.”

The NPA is balloting community pharmacy owners in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The NPA is not a trade union and so any outcome of the ballot with be advisory.

This is a consultative vote. The NPA will closely consider any actions supported by a majority, but the result is not binding on the NPA as an association or any of its members; we will not be able to oblige members to take any of the actions set out in the ballot.

Managing the perils of robotic storage and dispensing machines

By Nick Dinsdale Director of underwriting at NPA Insurance (NPAI)...

Prescription-picking robots have been around for a while. But historically, they’ve mainly been the preserve of large dispensing operations in hospital settings.

However, as the technology evolves and costs come down, they have become attractive to smaller pharmacy dispensers too. The benefits are clear – automated medication selection, real-time stock control, speed and efficiency.

But if they go wrong, they can be expensive to fix and the lead time for replacement parts means that the pharmacy business has to go back to costly and inefficient manual processes. The good news is that, subject to the terms and conditions, accidental damage to these machines is covered by NPAI’s Pharmacover policy.

Yet every business would rather prevent an accident occurring in the first place. Having dealt with a number of such claims, NPAI has identifi ed some simple risk management steps that pharmacies can take to prevent damage or loss:

• Restrict access – make sure no one can be near to the moving parts of the machine while it is in use. Most machines have an interlocking access system which switches it o the moment an access point is opened. Another precaution is to simply isolate the power, or remove the key, before anyone accesses the machine. The person with the key should be the person who accesses the machine so there is no chance of it getting switched on while they are inside. Finally, and obviously, don’t turn it back on until all sta are clear.

• Double check the area round the robotic arm travels is clear before turning the machine back on – ensure that everything you take in (bags, baskets, chairs, even pens etc) you take out again.

• In the event of a malfunction, don’t try to fix it yourself – always call the expert service engineer. Our job at NPAI is to protect our pharmacy customers when something goes wrong. But we’d much rather that it didn’t go wrong at all. Human factors generally lie at the heart of most accidents. By following the sensible steps we’ve outlined, our hope is that pharmacies can avoid expensive and time consuming losses in the fi rst place.

For more information about NPA Insurance’s Pharmacover policy, contact insuranceservice@npa.co.uk or call 01727 800 410.

NEW AND POPULAR NPA WEBSITE RESOURCES

• Flu vaccination service hub: An update highlighting the key changes, actions required, and launch of NPA resources including standard operating procedures (SOPs) to support the delivery of the flu service in England. This includes the service SOPs (PGD and National Protocol), flu training pathway, vaccine decision-making flowchart, and much more.

• Gender dysphoria hub: The Department of Health and Social Care has announced an extension to the puberty blockers ban that was set to expire on 3 September – the temporary ban now ends on 26 November 2024. We have updated our guidance as the new legislation came into force on 3 September in England, Scotland and Wales. It has also now been extended to Northern Ireland where it came into force from 27 August 2024. (update: https://www.npa.co.uk/information and- guidance/emergency-restrictions-on-puberty-blockers/)

• IP hub: A new independent prescribing (IP) resource is now available on the IP hub – the Independent Prescribing Record Keeping guidance and template. This contains guidance on the details Pharmacist Independent prescribers (PIPs) should be recording during consultations for prescribing services, how long to retain these records and a template for PIPs to complete during consultations.

• Mpox hub: Following the Mpox clade I outbreak, the UK Health Security Agency updated its guidance with information and advice for healthcare professionals and the general public. We have included the updated advice on the Mpox hub.

• MHRA drug safety update on valproate use in men: as a precaution, men and their partners should use effective contraception – we are working on producing a supportive resource for members. Discover more on the dedicated hub: Supplying valproate containing medicines safely.