Community Pharmacy England (CPE) - News updates

The Government has yet to conclude consideration of any increases to prescription charges and prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) for 2025/26. The current charges will therefore roll over into April 2025. Community Pharmacy England will update community pharmacy teams as soon as any changes are announced by Ministers, including details of when they will be implemented. [...] The post £9.90 NHS prescription charge unchanged for April 2025 appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Community pharmacy teams are reminded that, from 6 April 2025, patients who hold a tax credit exemption certificate will no longer receive automatic entitlement to free NHS prescriptions under the ‘Tax Credit exemption certificate’ category. This is because HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be ending tax credit payments on 5 April 2025. To help [...] The post Tax credits are ending – downloadable poster for pharmacies to display appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Following discussions between Community Pharmacy England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding medicine pricing issues reported by pharmacy owners, the Department has today (20/03/2025) announced the following list of price concessions for March 2025: Drug Pack size Price concession Acamprosate 333mg gastro-resistant tablets 168 £21.65 Alendronic acid 70mg tablets 4 £1.21 [...] The post March 2025 Price Concessions 2nd Update appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Ahead of the 31st March 2025 deadline*, pharmacy owners are reminded to regularly update their NHS Profile Manager each quarter, ensuring their NHS website and Directory of Services (DoS) profile information remains current. According to NHS Terms of Service, pharmacy owners must verify and update their opening hours, contact details, facilities, and services information for [...] The post Reminder: Update your NHS Profile Manager quarterly appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Following discussions between Community Pharmacy England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding medicine pricing issues reported by pharmacy owners, the Department has today (18/03/2025) announced the following initial list of price concessions for March 2025: Drug  Pack size Price concession Alfuzosin 2.5mg tablets 60 £4.46 Bimatoprost 300micrograms/ml / Timolol 5mg/ml eye [...] The post March 2025 Price Concessions 1st Update appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: “With April rapidly approaching there have been a number of queries about the timings of the CPCF negotiations. As well as additional funding, pharmacy owners desperately need clarity about the future; many are already making impossible decisions to help their businesses to survive and to protect [...] The post CPCF Negotiations appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Community Pharmacy England has released a summary of the March 2025 meeting of the Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG).  The group are due to several key topics, including: Pharmacy IT development Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) extended to Detained Estate EPS clinical prescription tracker and EPS FHIR update Leveraging IT solutions to enhance patient engagement [...] The post Pharmacy IT workstreams update published after IT group meets appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

National Patient Safety Alert: Discontinuation of Promixin® (colistimethate) 1-million unit powder for nebuliser solution unit dose vials National Patient Safety Alert Reference Number: NatPSA/2025/001/DHSC Date issued: 17 March 2025 Explanation of identified safety issue Promixin® (colistimethate) 1-million-unit powder for nebuliser solution unit dose vials (UDVs) are being discontinued from early May 2025, with stocks anticipated [...] The post National Patient Safety Alert: Discontinuation of Promixin® (colistimethate) 1-million unit powder for nebuliser solution unit dose vials appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Update 14/03/25 – The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has provided an update on the Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for Estradot® 50micrograms/24hours patches (SSP079), Estradot® 75micrograms/24hours patches (SSP080) and Estradot® 100micrograms/24hours patches (SSP081). SSP080 and SSP081 were due to expire on 14 March 2025 and SSP079 was due to expire on 21 March 2025. The end date [...] The post SSPs for Estradot® patches (SSP079, SSP080, SSP081) further extended appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

We’re sharing tips to help pharmacy team members make the most out of NHSmail. Pharmacy owners must ensure: Staff have access to the pharmacy’s shared NHSmail mailbox and can send/receive emails from it. At least two staff members at the pharmacy premises have live personal NHSmail accounts linked to the shared mailbox. Top tips Keep [...] The post Getting the most out of NHSmail appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.