MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE LIVERPOOL LOCAL PHARMACEUTICAL COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY 1stJUNE AT 60 HOPE STREET, LIVERPOOL, L1 9BZ
Attendance Statistics 2017/18
The table below shows the LPC members’ attendances at the nine committee meetings held between April 2017 and the end of March 2018.
Members / Apr / Jun / Jul / Sep / Oct / Nov / Jan / Mar / Individualattendance
P Brennan / 0 / / 1/2
B Cremin / / / 1/2
J Davey / / 0 / 1/2
L Davies / / / 2/2
P Glenn / / / 2/2
E Goodwin / / / 2/2
D Jones / / / 2/2
R Lightowler / / 0 / 1/2
K McCarthy / / / 2/2
J Parker / / / 2/2
P Quigley / / 0 / 1/2
D Sanchez / / / 2/2
TOTAL / 10 / 9 / 3/4
Present:P Brennan (PB) B Cremin (BC), L Davies (LD), P Glenn (PG),E Goodwin (EG), D Jones (DJ), K McCarthy (KM), J Parker (JP) and D Sanchez(DS) 9
In Attendance:M Harvey (Chief Officer) (MH) D Barker (Engagement Officer) (DB)
M17/061 Welcome
The Chair(DS) welcomed all present, made the necessary fire and housekeeping announcements, and asked for any declarations of interest. DS then reminded members of the agreed policy (M12/87) on mobile phones, namely that “mobile phones are to be switched off for calls and texts during the course of LPC meetings”. DS then welcomed David Barker as the committee’s Engagement Officer. A round of introductions was had.
M17/062 Apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from: J Davey, R Lightowler and P Quigley
M17/063 Minutes of the last meeting
Copies of which had been previously circulatedwere agreed as being a true and proper record.
M17/064 Actions from March Minutes
The committee reviewed any outstanding action points from the previous meeting.
MH updated members on the branded generic prescribing of Rewisca. The CCG had agreed to write to prescribers reminding them of the off-license usage of Rewisca for neuropathic pain, however ruled out creating a mechanism for pharmacies to return scripts to surgeries in order for Rewisca to be changed to generic. Lyrica is due to come off patent imminently and as a result, all scripts will be switched to generic pregabalin in the coming weeks.
DS has discussed collaboration between the Chairs of Sefton and Halton, St Helens and Knowsley LPC. There was a discussion over the benefits of closer working, especially Sefton where Liverpool and Sefton LPC’s are due to Merge next year, and of the risks of not doing so. Members tasked DS to discuss this further with Officers of our two neighboring committees.
Action DS: Send an email to the Officers of Sefton LPC to arrange a meeting discussing further collaborative working.
MH informed members that it was still unclear whether the LPC had insurance to cover advice given to contractors by officers or members. The committee asked MH to confirm this and any associated costs involved in updating our insurance. If there are any costs, members asked MH to liaise with the Governance and Finance sub-group before going ahead.
Action MH: Confirm whether the LPC has professional indemnity insurance.
Action MH: If current LPC insurance does not cover professional indemnity insurance, gather costings and liaise with the Governance and Finance sub-group.
M17/065LPC Business – for discussion
M17/065.1 Outstanding Bank Account Details
BC has not received bank account details from JD. As such, there are outstanding meeting attendances that are yet to be paid. In JD’s absence, these details were not able to be obtained today. DS will write to JD one final time inviting his bank account details.
Action DS: Draft a letter to JD itemizing outstanding monies owed and request BACS details.
M17/065.2Repeat Ordering
KM had attended a meeting on behalf of the committee where the cessation of third party ordering was discussed. The process of how this will happen was discussed. Initially, the WAGGA neighborhood covering Allerton, Woolton and Garston will go live in September, and there will be a three-month lead time for communications to practices. BC highlighted that a letter had been written by Halton, St Helens and Knowsley LPC that would be given to patients in the event of the process failing and the pharmacy receiving complaints. This would be sent to the CCG who then would have a duty to investigate and respond. It was agreed to provide affected pharmacies with a similar letter to use if needed. Halton, St Helens and Knowsley LPC have also created a PharmOutcomes module that allows pharmacies to record issues. This can then be fed back to the CCG. It was noted that it will be important for the LPC to keep a close eye on any issues and raise these with the CCG before this is rolled-out city-wide.
JP asked how a GP surgery can dictatewho can order repeats to patients. DJ asked where patient choice comes into this? There is no legal basis under which a surgery can dictate how a repeat arrives at the surgery, however the legal cost of challenging this has been looked at in other areas and is too costly.
The committee reaffirmed its position to support the enhanced use of Repeat Dispensing.
Members reviewed the proposed leaflet and letter that has been produced by the CCG and fed back any amendments to KM. KM will then take these comments back to the next meeting she attends on the subject.
M17/065.3MALPS Report
DS provided a report to the committee on the recent joint PSNC/LPC meeting. At the meeting, members discussed the resignation of Sue Sharp, PSNC Chief Executive. An appointment panel is being set up to find a replacement with her. There was also a call for pharmacies to notify the PSNC if there is a disparity between the number of EPS items dispensed and subsequently paid for by the NHSBSA. The PSNC have identified a potential issue whereby some EPS scripts seem to be ‘lost’ between claiming and payment. PSNC will be submitting a response to the new GPhC standards. The NPA have issued a standard poster for NPA members to counteract aggressive advertising by Pharmacy2U. The NHS Pharmacy Flu service has been recommissioned this year on the basis that the level of remuneration remained the same. The PSNC will do a cost analysis of the service in preparation for next year’s negotiations. The Chief Officers of the four constituent MALPS LPC’s have furthered their collaborative working; highlighting five key areas for collaboration – PharmOutcomes, training, NUMSAS, communications, DoS/NHS 111. The four constituent LPC’s need to sign and return the PharmOutcomes license for this year. It was proposed at the MALPS meeting that the four Chief Officer’s should do this. Members agreed for MH to sign this on their behalf.
M17/065.4Care at the Chemist Report
EG provided the members a brief report on the meeting attended by himself, MH and DB. MH had started to write a paper based on previous workings and discussions on Care at the Chemist. DS thanked EG for the work he had done looking at the finances behind Care at the Chemist and reporting comments on the draft paper.
Action MH: Contact Peter Johnstoneto discuss the LPC’s comments on proposed changes for Care at the Chemist.
M17/065.5 Chief Officer’s Report
MH had previously circulated his report and invited questions from members. There were no questions.
M17/065.6Training
There are two upcoming PSNC training events; one on Social Media and the other on coaching and mentoring. It was decided that DB should attend the PSNC social media training as utilisation of this will be a key part of his role. Members also agreed to send MH and DB on the coaching and mentoring training.
Action MH: Book DB onto the PSNC Social Media training and book train travel to London
Action MH: Book DB and MH onto the PSNC Mentoring training.
M17/065.7Contracts Update
There had been no new contract applications within Liverpool since the last meeting. MH stated that one previous application that had been refused has now gone to appeal. Members agreed with MH that the committee had submitted a response to the original application and no further comment was needed at the appeal stage.
M17/065.8 Sub-Group Session and Feedback
The committee split into their respective sub-groups for the afternoon session of the meeting. After the session, each sub-group fed back to the full committee.
Services Sub-Group – Since the last meeting the sub group had developed an EHC audit. 14 pharmacies participated, providing coverage of just over 10% of contractors. Results suggested that almost a quarter of EHC requests resulted in the patient walking out of the pharmacy empty handed as they refused to pay for the medication. MH commented that the results would be fed back to Public Health, as they were currently completing a Sexual Health Needs Analysis. The group looked at the Care at the Chemist Paper that MH had started and have made relevant notes for updating.
Communications Sub-group – there will be a push to utilize Twitter and Facebook more and the sub-group has proposed to help more to do this. MH thanked members for chasing contractors for completing the PNA questionnaire. A total of 114/136 pharmacies had completed within the time limit. Chasing would now be taken over as part of DB’s role, however designated members would need to still play an active part when required. The committee agreed to a WhatsApp group be created for contractors and the website will be updated by the sub-group when they next meet.
Governance Sub-group – JP reported back to the committee. The sub-group are looking ahead to the Annual General Meeting and propose to make an amendment to the constitution. JP is continuing to edit a governance overview procedure and KM is compiling a personnel practice procedure to use in the event of any issues with staff members. RL has been looking at a behavioral policy, and the sub-group hope to have all policies amended for committee approval at the July meeting.
M17/046 Treasurer’s Report
BC provided the committee with the current LPC bank balance. The level was raising slightly, but parts of the budget that were set to diminish reserves were yet to be realized. BC highlighted that the LPC reserve account with Barclays has only one signatory and this needs to be looked at. It was agreed that the Officer’s would look at opening a new bank account to house this money, or at least change the way in which this is banked.
BC has yet to finalize the accounts for the committee and will do so with a degree of urgency in order to get the accounts to the accountants for review.
Action MH: Send the LPC Barclays statement to BC
Action BC: Send the LPC accounts to the accountants along with bank statements for the last 12 months.
BC then reported on the PSNC Treasurer’s Day that he attended on the 17th May.
Members discussed JD’s expenses. This was a closed section of the meeting.
M17/047Any Other Business
DS wished MH and his family luck on their impending new baby.
M17/048 Date and Time of Next Meeting
Thursday 13th July 2017,9.30am at 60 Hope Street.