DHSC

Four more medicines have been added to the list of those that cannot be parallel exported from the UK.

The government reveals plans to “increase the range of professions able to prescribe low-risk medicines."

The DHSC has ordered 400,000 extra doses of the adult flu vaccine for the 2019-20 flu season, it was announced yesterday.

Pharmacists have been granted powers to dispense an “alternative strength or pharmaceutical form” of fluoxetine.

Several HRT suppliers are putting “demand management processes” in place in the wake of acute stock shortages.

The Government will consider offering MMR vaccinations in “settings outside of a GP” to improve protection rates.

The DHSC has said the data it collects on medicines prices has improved since new regulations came into force.

PSNC is warning that payment for July prescriptions will reflect the new categorisation, not the information published in the July Drug Tariff.

The Government has launched a consultation on community pharmacy reimbursement reforms.

The new contractual framework will considerably expand clinical services from pharmacies over the next five years.

Category M reimbursement prices will increase by £15 million a month from August, the DHSC has said.

DHSC warns the main risk to the supply of medicines remains the likely bottlenecks at the short straits crossings.

Amendments to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 have been laid before Parliament

Pharmacy minister Seema Kennedy said she is “alert” to the difficulties facing community pharmacy contractors.

By Richard Thomas, Editor, Pharmacy Magazine The contract talks between PSNC and the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England remain shrouded in secrecy but some strong clues are beginning to emerge. Pharmacy’s negotiators are pushing hard for a multi-year settlement like the one the GPs have, while urgent care is a key priority for the NHS as underlined in the Long Term Plan. A national minor illness referral service is very much on the cards. The Scottish and Welsh Governments recognised some time ago the benefits that such schemes offer patients and the NHS, so it is good to see England catching up at last. However, where Scotland and Wales diverge from England is over medicines optimisation in long-term conditions.

By Simon Dukes, chief executive PSNC You may well be thinking that primary care networks (PCNs) is just another primary care shake-up. In some ways it is – but there are some important ways in which this one is different for us. First, this change is going to reroute a lot of primary care funding directly through networks of GP practices while specifying seven key services that these networks must deliver. Some of these services are due for roll-out from April 2020 and they include structured medication reviews (by clinical pharmacists), enhancing health in care homes, anticipatory and personalised care, supporting early cancer diagnosis, CVD diagnosis and prevention, and local action to tackle inequalities.

The DHSC will reiterate its “great concern” to the suppliers of an epilepsy drug that has been affected by shortages, Seema Kennedy told the Commons

The changing NHS landscape presents opportunities for community pharmacy but the sector will need to adapt, PSNC has said in a new video animation

March 2019 saw the Department of Health and Social Care grant a record amount of medicine price concessions

Urgent care referrals, medicines safety and “challenging discussions on funding and reimbursement” are all expected to be on the agenda