Bank Holiday 8th May - Please Update your DoS AND NHS website
Following the announcement that NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) requires all community pharmacies in England to open from 2pm to 5pm on Friday 8th May 2020 (Early May 2020 Bank Holiday), PSNC has received queries from contractors about the need to update their opening hours in the Directory of Services (DoS).
Key messages are:
- Contractors must update DoS themselves, unless they have confirmation that the NHSE&I Regional Team is doing this for their region. LPCs may be able to clarify the position for contractors.
- There will be NO national block update of contractors' hours on DoS for the bank holiday opening on Friday 8th May, because the flexibility provided by NHSE&I means it is more appropriate for contractors to update entries.
- It is important for contractors to update their DoS entry, so that NHS 111 does not send a patient to a closed pharmacy, for example, as part of the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS).
- Contractors can use the DoS Profile Updater to make the necessary change by the end of Wednesday 6th May 2020. If you experience a last-minute change after this date, for example, due to staff illness, meaning you cannot open, you will need to use the DoS emergency change number instead: 0300 0200 363 (as well as notifying NHSE&I).
- Contractors should also ensure that the pharmacy NHS website entry is correct for Friday 8th May.
Read more on our DoS webpage
Please see the link for the 8th Bank Holiday list for North Cumbria.
We are waiting for South Cumbria information.
5th May is the last day to claim for Easter Bank Holidays REMEMBER TO CLAIM if you haven't already.
Dealing with Returned Medicines
PSNC has worked with the National Pharmacy Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group to produce joint guidance on dealing with unwanted medicines that have been returned to community pharmacies in England.
The contractual requirement for community pharmacies to accept unwanted/out-of-date/waste medicines for disposal from the public remains an important service during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does bring potential risks for pharmacy teams. This guidance has been compiled to help contractors determine how best to safely handle returned unwanted medicines at this time. It contains a list of considerations and a suggested procedure, as well as checklists to work through.
Guidance on dealing with patient-returned / unwanted medicines
Checklists on dealing with patient-returned / unwanted medicines
Review Social Distancing and Infection Control Procedures
For many pharmacies, the peak demand of the early days of the pandemic has now diminished and as contractors and their teams may have a little more time to reflect on their experiences so far during the pandemic, now may be an opportune time to consider how well social distancing has been maintained and what else could potentially be done to ensure it continues to be maintained over the months to come.
PSNC has published a risk assessment template will help
pharmacy teams to identify further potential changes which could be made to their pharmacy environment or procedures during the pandemic to increase the safety of staff and patients.
Download the risk assessment template from this webpage
Domestic abuse and safeguarding – Safe Spaces
You may have seen that evidence is emerging that domestic abuse has increased during the coronavirus lockdown. An initiative launched last week, supported by Boots, the GPhC and the Home Office is designed to provide assistance for victims of domestic abuse and could result in more people approaching your own pharmacy for support.
Any pharmacy can become a Safe Space. Full details of how all pharmacies can help with this can be found HERE.
COVID-19 Daily Updates from PSNC, NHSE&I, NPA & Community Pharmacy Cumbria
We have produced a page on our website where you can access all of the updates/information sent out by PSNC, NHSE&I, NPA & ourselves.
All of these links can be found on this Web-page.
Webinar – Date Change Thursday 7th May
Please see below change of date for the next community pharmacy COVID webinar.
The webinar will now take place on Thursday 7th May from 7pm – 8pm instead of Wednesday 6th May. Dr Nikki Kanani will be joining us to talk about COVID 19 and impact on BAME communities. Please click here to join the Community Pharmacy webinar. We hope you will be able to attend the revised date.
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