Friday 28th March 2025   

Welcome to your weekly injection of local and national pharmacy news. As always, if you have any feedback or comments, please contact us by email at admin@cpdevon.org.uk.

Steve Race who is the Labour MP for Exeter, visited Well Pharmacy at Wonford last week to talk to Regional Operations Manager, Andrew Jones and Community Pharmacy Devon Service Lead, Leah Wolf, alongside the team there.

Steve spent some time talking with the team about the local services they provide and how this supports the local patient demographic. As chair of the All Party Pharmacy Group he was also interested to hear more about the challenges being faced currently by pharmacies. He even had his blood pressure checked!

Leah Wolf Service Engagement lead for Community Pharmacy Devon expressed thanks to Steve Race for making the time to come and see for himself the value that a community pharmacy brings to the local communities and patients.

Pharmacy owners are reminded to update their NHS Profile Manager ahead of the 31st March 2025 deadline to keep their pharmacy's NHS website and Directory of Service (DoS) profile information up to date.

The NHS Terms of Service require pharmacy owners to check and verify their opening hours, contact information, facilities, and services information each financial quarter. Even if there are no changes, each module should be marked as verified.

By 31 March 2025 at the latest, all contractors delivering Pharmacy First will also have to deliver the Pharmacy contraception service and Hypertension Case-Finding service to qualify for the monthly £1,000 fixed payment (as well as meeting the relevant consultation threshold). Payments for Pharmacy First, the expanded Pharmacy Contraception Service and the re-launched blood pressure check service will be ‘bundled’ together by 31st March 2025, meaning pharmacies will have to provide all three to be eligible for funding.

Lyme disease cases in Devon are significantly higher than the national average and with April-June being the peak season for tick activity as it coincides with warmer weather and increased outdoor activities, it's worth watching out for. Studies in Europe suggest that 1-5% of tick bites can lead to lyme disease. On average, approximately 4-6% of ticks are infected in England and Wales, although this number can fluctuate in different areas and across years.

The national UKHSA social media campaign continues to be a priority public awareness campaign for Devon County Council public health as Lyme disease incidence in Devon is reportedly higher than other areas of the country. The aims of the campaign are to facilitate consistent tick bite prevention and Lyme awareness messaging via a variety of media and Tick Bite Prevention Week is held from the 24th-30th March. For more information see here.

If you have a positive news story to share with us please send it to admin@cpdevon.org.uk and it will be featured in an upcoming edition of the review. If featured, you will also win a surprise gift for you and your team up to the value of £25!

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