2017/18
The publication of the annual flu letter for 2017/18 by the Department of Health, Public Health England and NHS England confirms that the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service will continue in 2017/18. However, no discussions on the contractual requirements or funding have yet taken place with PSNC. The annual flu letter also lists the flu vaccines (in Appendix F) which will be available for use during the 2017/18 season.
Flu training
Community Pharmacy Lancashire have arranged flu vaccination training on the following dates and venues:
No further dates at present
Training Cost
• Online Flu Training £20 + vat
• Face to Face Training (including online) £99 + vat
Face to face training duration 4.5 hours. (Choose am or pm session when booking)
Please find full details of each training package here
To book your place click here
Further details or queries contact Avicenna and quote Lancashire LPC: email louise.murie@avicenna.org or telephone 020 8651 9933 option 4
2017/18
The service specification and Patient Group Direction (PGD) for the community pharmacy Flu Vaccination Advanced Service 2017/18 can be found below.
Community pharmacy contractors that fully meet the requirements for provision of the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service now have the go ahead to provide the service from 1st September 2017. This follows the amendment of the Secretary of State Directions. A link to the Secretary of State Directions, which provide the legal basis for provision of the service is available from the flu vaccination section of the PSNC website – psnc.org.uk/flu
This service will commence from 1st September 2017. The service ends on the last day of March (31st March 2018), but focus should be given to vaccinating eligible patients between 1st September 2017 and 31st January 2018, with eligible patients being vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available.
Service Specification for the Flu Vaccination Advanced Service 2017/18
PGD for the Flu Vaccination Advanced Service 2017/18
The specification and PGD set out information about provision of the service and they should be read alongside PSNC’s detailed guidance on the service.
CPL has produced a complementary CPL Quick Flu Service Guide 2017/18 with a single page checklist on page 1
Further details on the Advanced Flu Service 2017/18 can be found on PSNC website. Click here
Notify NHS England of intention to provide the Flu Vaccination Service
Community pharmacy contractors are now able to notify NHS England of their intention to begin providing the Flu Vaccination Service, which will commence on 1st September 2017, by completing the notification form available on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) website.
This must be done annually therefore even if a contractor provided the service in 2016/17 they must complete this sign-up process again.
Contractors need to complete this form for all their pharmacies from which the Flu Vaccination Service will be offered.
If the form is not completed before provision of the service, claims for payment will not be accepted by the NHS BSA.
The electronic form on the NHS BSA website asks for the Pharmacy Organisation Code; this is the ODS or F code for the pharmacy that is used on the end of month submission to the Pricing Authority. If the form is incorrectly completed it may result in a delay in payment for the service.
Training requirements for the national Flu Vaccination Service 2017/18
Face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support.
Pharmacists providing the Flu Vaccination Service need to attend face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support training every two years. This requirement means that a pharmacist who undertook face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2016 would not need to undertake face-to-face training in 2017. In 2018, the pharmacist would then need to undertake face-to-face training in order to continue to provide the service in 2018/19.
Pharmacists who undertook face-to-face training in 2015 will need to undertake face-to-face training in 2017, prior to providing the Flu Vaccination Service 2017/18.
Declaration of Competence (DoC)
Pharmacists who intend to provide the Flu Vaccination Service also need to complete the NHS seasonal influenza vaccination ADVANCEDDeclaration of Competence (DoC) self-assessment framework and statement of declaration every two years. A pharmacist who completed this last year in 2015 will not be required to complete this again in 2016. In 2017, the pharmacist would then be required to complete the DoC process in order to continue to provide the service in 2017/18
The NHS seasonal influenza vaccination ADVANCED Declaration of Competence (DoC) self-assessment framework and statement of declaration are available on the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) website.
An option to consider…
If pharmacists completed face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2015 and the NHS seasonal influenza vaccination ADVANCED DoC process in 2016, we suggest that pharmacists consider completing the DoC process again in 2017. Since these pharmacists will need to complete face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2017, by completing the DoC again in 2017 it will mean their training and completion of the DoC process can then be completed together every two years, rather than having to do training one year and completion of the DoC process the next.
Further information on training can be found on the Flu Vaccination – training requirements and resources page on the PSNC website.
Community Pharmacy Flu – YouTube video
Local community pharmacist talks about the flu scheme. Watch the video below
