News

Media and Political Bulletin

02 March 2020

Media Summary

CNBC, Berkeley Lovelace Jr., 28 February 2020

CNBC reports that the FDA has said the pharmaceutical industry has reported the first shortage of a drug due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The FDA, which declined to identify the drug, said the shortage is related to a manufacturing site impacted by the outbreak in China.

“It is important to note that there are other alternatives that can be used by patients. We are working with the manufacturer as well as other manufacturers to mitigate the shortage,” the agency said in its notice.

The FDA also said it has been in touch with more than 180 manufacturers of human drugs since 24 January, asking them to evaluate their entire supply chain and other components manufactured in China.

10 things you should know about the English pharmacy contract update

C+D, Valeria Fiore, 28 February 2020

While the overall funding for community pharmacy is fixed at £2.592bn per year until 2024, the number of services offered by the sector will grow in 2020-21.

An update on the English community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF) for 2019-20 to 2023-24, shared with contractors last week (February 23), offers more detail about some of the services first announced in the contract last year.

C+D gives their pick of the 10 key updates contractors need to get ready for.

Parliamentary Coverage

Department of Health and Social Care, 28 February 2020

Further documents relating to the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill 2020 have been published:

• The impact assessment evaluates the measures in the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill and gives an overarching assessment of the impact they will have.
• The illustrative statutory instruments accompany the Delegated Powers Memorandum. These are illustrative examples of how the powers in the bill may be used, and are not final drafts for consultation.
• The 10 factsheets provide additional information on key areas of the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill.

Full Coverage

CNBC, Berkeley Lovelace Jr., 28 February 2020

The Food and Drug Administration said the pharmaceutical industry reported the first shortage of a drug due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has spread to 44 countries in a matter of weeks.

The FDA, which declined to identify the drug, said the shortage is related to a manufacturing site impacted by the outbreak in China.

“The shortage is due to an issue with manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the drug,” the agency said in its notice dated Thursday. “It is important to note that there are other alternatives that can be used by patients. We are working with the manufacturer as well as other manufacturers to mitigate the shortage.”

The agency has been warning consumers that the impact to the medical supply chain would likely impact their own lives, including potential disruptions to prescription drugs or shortages of critical medical products in the United States. China, where the outbreak began in late December, is a large supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make several medicines.

China this week began reopening operations for a number of businesses, but travel restrictions that are still in place are likely to slow down production.

The FDA also said it has been in touch with more than 180 manufacturers of human drugs since Jan. 24. The agency is asking them to evaluate their entire supply chain and other components manufactured in China.

“Also, as part of our efforts, the FDA has identified about 20 other drugs, which solely source their active pharmaceutical ingredients or finished drug products from China,” the agency said.

10 things you should know about the English pharmacy contract update

C+D, Valeria Fiore, 28 February 2020

While the overall funding for community pharmacy is fixed at £2.592bn per year until 2024, the number of services offered by the sector will grow in 2020-21.

An update on the English community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF) for 2019-20 to 2023-24, shared with contractors last week (February 23), offers more detail about some of the services first announced in the contract last year.

Changes include the introduction of the NHS Discharge Medicines Service, which community pharmacies will be expected to provide a new essential service from July. As part of this, hospitals will be able to digitally refer patients to their pharmacy for guidance on newly prescribed medicines or updated prescriptions.

Pharmacies will continue to deliver the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS), which will be expanded to include referrals from NHS 111 online in June, and from GP practices later this year.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is still finalising the details of each service, in collaboration with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) and working towards an agreement on the payment contractors will receive in 2020-21.

Here is our pick of the 10 key updates contractors need to get ready for:

• Hepatitis C testing service: This service will be nationally commissioned from April, and will ask pharmacies to refer patients found to have positive antibodies to a local treatment service. Although all pharmacies can offer this service, it will “generally only be of interest to those pharmacies offering a locally commissioned needle and syringe programme”, PSNC said in a Frequently Asked Questions document, published last week (February 23). Reimbursement fees and service specifications are still being defined.
• CPCS referrals from NHS 111 online: From June, pharmacies could receive referrals for urgent medicines supply from NHS 111 online.
• NHS Discharge Medicines Services: This new essential service is expected to be introduced from July. It will allow pharmacists to use their skills as medicines experts to offer guidance on newly prescribed medicines to patients recently discharged from hospital. Under the service, PSNC expects pharmacies to receive a fee for each referral they complete, but the amount is still being decided.
• CPCS referrals from GP practices: This extension of the CPCS could be introduced as early as October, subject to the success of current pilots, and will see GP practices refer patients to pharmacies when appropriate.
• Clinical pilots: A number of clinical services will be piloted over the coming financial year. These include a blood pressure testing service; a smoking cessation referral service; and a point of care testing for Streptococcus A in community pharmacy.
• NHS travel vaccinations service: Subject to negotiations with NHS England and the DH, pharmacies could soon be offering four NHS travel vaccines: against polio, typhoid, hepatitis A and cholera. PSNC believes these vaccines, already provided by some GP practices, could be introduced by March 2021.
• Transitional payments: These will increase from April and will be linked to each pharmacy’s dispensing volume. However, payments will reduce over the course of this financial year, as new services are introduced and funding is transferred to them. PSNC was unable to share details on the revised payment bands for 2020-21 at this stage, as these are currently being finalised with the DH.
• Establishment payments: Contractors can expect to receive reduced establishment payments. These will be phased out by the end of 2020-21, as announced as part of the CPCF last year.
• Reduced Medicines Use Reviews (MUR) budget: In 2020-21, NHS England will commission a maximum of 100 MURs per pharmacy and from July, when the new NHS Discharge Medicines Services is introduced, “70% of MURs will be targeted solely at high risk medicines”, the commissioning bodies, the DH and PSNC said in a letter to contractors. MURs will be decommissioned by April 2021.
• Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS): Funding for this has been maintained at £75m but payments will be made to pharmacies depending on their 2019 prescription volume – a new aspect of the scheme. More details on this will be announced in “due course”, according to a PSNC briefing published last week (February 23).