TOP TIPS NHS COMMUNITY PHARMACY FLU VACCINATION SERVICE
Top Tips NHS Community Pharmacy - Flu Vaccination Service ENSURE YOU ARE TRAINED AND COMPETENT TO DELIVER THE FLU SERVICE On 20th July 2015, PSNC announced that as part of the 2015/16 community pharmacy funding settlement NHS England has agreed to allow community pharmacies in England to offer a seasonal influenza (flu) vaccination service for patients in at-risk groups and will commence from September 2015. The service can be provided by any community pharmacy in England that has a consultation room, can procure the vaccination and meet the data recording requirements, and has appropriately trained staff. There is no limit on the number of vaccinations pharmacies can claim for as long as they are given to eligible patients. Pharmacies will be reimbursed the cost of the vaccine, and receive 9.14 per administered dose (comprising remuneration of 7.64 plus an additional fee of 1.50 to cover the costs of providing the service). There will be no separate funding for initial set-up costs, as the 1.50 per dose is intended to cover these. The service is being funded from NHS England's annual flu vaccination programme budget. The Service Specifications, SOP's and data capture processes are still being agreed nationally and we will let you know once they are available. eral practice. Pharmacies will be able to offer flu vaccinations to patients aged 18 years and over, at the time of vaccination, who meet the risk criteria set out in the 'annual flu letter' which is attached. These include people aged 65 years and older, pregnant women, people in long-stay residential care homes, carers and people aged between 18 and 65 years with specified medical conditions. Please be aware that children are not covered by the national NHS flu vaccination service, so some of the information set out in the annual flu letter is only relevant for gen Top Tip 1 - Ensure you are trained and competent to deliver the Flu service As has been the case for the existing Advanced Services, contractors will be required to demonstrate that anyone providing the vaccinations in their pharmacies has the skills needed to do so. Flu vaccination services have been widely commissioned from community pharmacies over the last few years and as a consequence many pharmacists will already have received the training they need to offer vaccinations. Pharmacy contractors will need to ensure their staff have the necessary skills to undertake vaccination of eligible patients. The Declaration of Competence approach (developed by the Community Pharmacy Competence Group) will be used to assure pharmacy contractors that pharmacists have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide the service. An existing Declaration of Competence for vaccination services (available on the CPPE website) is being edited for use in the Advanced service.
PREPARE, MARKET AND PROMOTE YOUR SERVICES Top Tip 2 Prepare, Market and Promote your services Ensure your teams fully understand their role in delivering this service to engage patients and promote uptake of the Flu Vaccination Service Brief and educate your Pharmacy Teams to understand the Flu service, Eligibility and how to engage patients and promote the service Educate your Pharmacy Teams to speak to patients about the service to book appointments and inform you of interested patients Pharmacy Teams can support you by helping the patient to complete the Flu consent form prior to the service Order Leaflets, Posters and bag stuffers to raise awareness of the Service Speak to your local GP practice and work with them closely remember some patients may find it convenient or prefer to have their flu jab at the Pharmacy Use available downloadable resources to put letters or bag stuffers in prescription bags for at risk and eligible patients
PREPARE YOUR CONSULTATION ROOM AND ENSURE SOP S AND POLICIES ARE IN PLACE Top Tip 3 Prepare your Consultation Room and ensure SOP s and Policies are in Place Prepare your consultation room so it is uncluttered, clean and meets the standards required to deliver a Flu Vaccination Service Infection control ensure access to hot running water Do you have Sharps disposal? Do you have Flu vaccination procedures in place? Do you have a Cold chain policy? Do you have a CPR policy this must include: -At least one other person on site whenever immunisations are undertaken Do you have Access to telephone to call emergency services? Anaphylaxis Do you have a Blood Spill Policy Chaperone policy Safeguarding policy
ORDER YOUR FLU VACCINATIONS IN ADVANCE Recording and Consent PSNC Update August 25th 2015 National paperwork has been developed to allow the recording of patient consent, the clinical record of the vaccination and notification of the patient s GP practice of the administration of the vaccine, informed by the paperwork developed in 2013 for the winter pressures toolkit. The paperwork will be published as soon as it has been approved by NHS England s internal governance process. PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR DECLARATION OF COMPETENCE ON THE CPPE WEBSITE AS SOON AS YOU CAN. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL GP'S IS ESSENTIAL TO WORK IN COLLABORATION AND REDUCE RESISTANCE. Top Tip 5 Order your Flu Vaccinations in advance Consider your stock requirements and procure the vaccine from your suppliers a list of possible vaccinations is included in the annual flu letter; PSNC Link https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/influenza-vaccines-2015-to-2016-flu -seaso Top Tip 6 Understand Myths and Facts About the Flu Service Useful sites to support understanding and bust Myths about Flu when talking to patients http://www.flu-protect.co.uk/myths-and-facts/ http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/winterhealth/pages/ Flu-myths.aspx Useful sites to support understanding and bust Myths about Flu when talking to patients
Remember to ensure staff know where the Anaphylaxis Pack/Adrenaline injection is kept; consider training members of the dispensary staff to draw up the Adrenaline; and have a card by the phone detailing what information to provide when calling an ambulance (click here for a template card). Consider multiple delivery drops and remember to bear in mind your fridge capacity. 10 minute appointments are probably the best to start with. Once the pharmacist s skill and confidence has built up (after the first few patients) you will find there is plenty of time to perform other duties and maybe even squeeze in a walk-in between appointments. PSNC advises pharmacy contractors to: Think about your pharmacy and your patients. Would appointments work or would a drop in service be better? We had a drop in service and it worked well for our pharmacy, although appointments will work better for some. Be organised.* This is with regard to stock, paperwork and the running of your service as a whole. Utilising the skills of your staff is pivotal. Try
Delivering the service top tips