The requirement for Healthy Living Pharmacies (HLPs) to reassess against the HLP Quality Criteria has moved from every two years to every three years. More information is available on the PSNC website. With HLP becoming an essential requirement in the community pharmacy contractual framework from April 2020, monitoring will fall under NHS England Community Pharmacy Assurance Framework so maintaining the criteria remains a key requirement. This evidenced capability will become increasingly … [Read more...] about HLP Criteria Self-assessment
Quality Payments
HLP – more than a tick box exercise
When we first developed the concept of Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) and evolved the quality criteria there was no Quality Payment Scheme (QPS). Pharmacy contractors and local commissioners chose to invest the time and energy because they saw it as the right thing to do. HLP’s roots are in change management and organisational development – developing workforce capability, ensuring premises and facilities are fit for purpose and engaging with the community to deliver consistent high quality … [Read more...] about HLP – more than a tick box exercise
Quality Payment Scheme 2018/19
The criteria for the second half of the 2018/19 Quality Payment Scheme have been announced with some changes to both the Gateway and the Quality criteria. The review point for this period will be February 15, 2019. We are pleased to see that Healthy Living Pharmacy has been retained with an additional public health capability requirement for the pharmacy team to have completed child oral health training in advance of a planned health campaign on this important topic in 2019. In addition there … [Read more...] about Quality Payment Scheme 2018/19
Hidden value
I was in Practice on Saturday - working for an independent community pharmacy owned by the adjacent GP practice. As frequently happens, we received a call from a young woman (late 20′s) who wanted to speak to the pharmacist. This case highlights just how much value pharmacists add to the health system but goes completely unnoticed by those who hold the purse-strings. She explained she had Lupus and had been late requesting a flu vaccination. She was visiting her mother from the North West … [Read more...] about Hidden value