Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (including GP CPCS)
| Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) | |
| Full information | Click here for full CPCS information |
| Pharmacies signed up | Click here for list of pharmacies signed up to CPCS |
| Service specification | Click here for the CPCS service spec |
| Training requirements | Pharmacists providing the CPCS should read the service specification and the CPCS Toolkit to be clear on what is expected of them and how the CPCS should be provided. The necessary knowledge and skills required are a core competency for all pharmacists. |
| Equipment required | N/A |
| SOP | Pharmacy contractors providing the CPCS must have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place for the service. A template SOP has been written by members of the Urgent Care Delivery and Implementation Group. Contractors can amend and adopt this SOP for use in their pharmacy if they wish. |
What to do if you cannot offer CPCS services temporarily –
- If you need to temporarily suspend CPCS referrals due to capacity issues, but can continue to operate as a pharmacy: contact the DoS lead on devon.dos@nhs.net so that they can close the four CPCS specific profiles affected. Please ensure you include the word ‘closure’ in the subject field of the email so that emails can be diverted to an OOH team if necessary.
- If you need to temporarily close the pharmacy entirely and cannot provide any services: you should use Profile Manager and follow your business continuity plans as usual.
General Practice Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (GP CPCS) – One Devon
As part of a service expansion planned by NHS England, on the 1st November 2020 GP referrals to community pharmacy teams will be included as part of the national CPCS service. These referrals will be for patients suffering from minor ailments only.
Pharmacy teams can start to prepare for the local rollout by:
- Reading the updated NHS CPCS Toolkit for pharmacy staff, so you understand more about how the pathway will operate;
- Reading the updated service specification;
- Briefing relevant staff on the changes to CPCS;
- Ensuring pharmacists that will provide the service read the updated toolkit and service specification;
- Supporting pharmacists to reflect on continuing professional development activity they could undertake to provide the best possible service to patients, which could include undertaking the NHS-funded CPCS training provided by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Pharmacy contractors that are not registered to provide the service can still do so via the NHSBSA Manage Your Service (MYS) portal.
The team at PharmOutcomes have already created a dedicated GP CPCS template to support these referral follow-ups that will appear in the pharmacy PharmOutcomes “Services” screen. This will be available in the service sidebar of the pharmacy “Services” page from the 1st November 2020.
NHSX and partner organisations have published a new CPCS Buyer’s Guide to help contractors prepare for the transfer to them of the cost of Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) IT solutions.
This guide, which was developed with the support of PSNC, sets out the options and actions required in the move to the CPCS ‘provider pays’ model and will help contractors choose the best CPCS IT provider for them.
Contractors should sign up to one of the assured CPCS IT providers from mid-next month or at the latest during February 2022 to ensure a smooth transition.
Read the new CPCS Buyer’s Guide
Training and support for the NHS CPCS.
VirtualOutcomes training’ – the link is https://www.virtualoutcomes.co.uk/pharmacy-training/ – VirtualOutcomes has been funded by the LPC for you – you will need to enter your F-code in order to gain access but the modules are then free for you to use’.
Self-assessment framework:
The NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) self-assessment framework supports you to reflect on your knowledge and skills to provide the NHS CPCS. If you haven’t already completed training this is your starting point.
Workshops funded through Health Education England
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), NHS CPCS online training for pharmacists. Find out more and book your place via the RPS website.
Alternatively CPPE are providing the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service: essential skills online workshop. which is a collection of online resources and e-learning modules which will provide you with information about the NHS CPCS and provide preliminary learning about the consultation skills that will be required to deliver the service. The e-course is intended to prepare you to get the most out of the online sessions where you will get a chance to practise those skills and ask clinical experts further questions about techniques and practical application.
The name of the service has been changed to Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) during July 2019.
