COVID-19: 13th April round-up for primary care
Thank you to so many of you across primary care who worked over this bank holiday weekend to support our communities to stay safe and well.
Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has welcomed confirmation that all pharmacists and pharmacy team members are covered by the provisions of the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018. This was confirmed to the RPS by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) this week.
The legislation which applies to England and Wales enables judges to apply more severe sentences to those found guilty of any physical attacks on emergency or healthcare workers.
NHS Volunteer Responders service
The NHS Volunteer Responders service is offering support to pharmacy and general practice to drive patients to appointments, collect medicines from pharmacies and making regular phone calls to check on people isolating at home. We strongly encourage all of you to make full early use of the volunteer responders for your patients, for example they can provide regular check-ins for patients feeling isolated as a result of social distancing. Further details on how you can make use of this resource are available here.
COVID-19: 14th April round-up for primary care
We have published our latest preparedness letter today for community pharmacy colleagues with the latest information and guidance we hope will be useful.
The letter includes information on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) following the updated guidance which was published by Public Health England (PHE) on 12 April 2020, the NHS Home Delivery service and the use of NHS Volunteers for collecting medicines, amongst other guidance.
COVID-19: 17th April round-up for primary care
On 12 April, Pauline Philip, National Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, and Sarah-Jane Marsh, National CEO for Staff Testing, wrote out to NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Regional Directors, EPRR regional leads and CEOs of NHS trusts/foundation trusts to announce that the testing of NHS staff had been expanded to include a wider group of staff and household members across the NHS, including individuals working in primary care, community services and other staff as determined locally. The letter also included details of the criteria that has be to be met to be eligible for testing.
Regional Chief Executive leads have been appointed to lead and coordinate the testing of NHS staff and so if you are not already aware of your local testing arrangements please contact your local CCG Accountable Officer/ STP lead.
In addition to this, and as part of an effort to ensure all available capacity is being utilised, the Department of Health and Social Care in collaboration with the Care Quality Commission, is opening up access to national testing capacity as a short-term and time-limited measure in some specific places. Individuals who meet the eligibility criteria for testing will just need to fill in their details via the CQC form and they will get an email back giving them an appointment time at one of the regional testing centres​ near to them with available capacity.
If you are already booked in or are awaiting a test through local NHS arrangements, please consult with your local testing service before booking separately through this national offer.
Easter opening of pharmacies – claims process
The claims process for those pharmacies who were open on Good Friday and Easter Monday has now become live. From Friday 17 April until midnight on Tuesday 5 May, pharmacy contractors will be able to log on to the NHSBSA MYS portal to declare their opening hours and claim the appropriate payment. The payments will be made as part of April submissions, and paid to contractors on 1 June. These payments will not show on the standard payment schedule, but NHSBSA will write to all contractors who claim any hours on the two bank holidays to confirm the payment.
