Pharmacy Influenza Commissioning 2015

PSNC have confirmed a nationally commissioned NHS influenza service for 2015/16 on Monday 20 July 2015. The service is open to any suitably qualified pharmacist working within a pharmacy with a PREM 1 certified consultation room. The NHS England, national commissioning forms the basis of pharmacy vaccination services which may be augmented locally with additional PGDs.

Pharmacies will be reimbursed the cost of the vaccine, and receive £9.14 per administered dose (comprising remuneration of £7.64 plus an additional fee of £1.50 to cover the costs of providing the service).  There will be no separate funding for initial set-up costs, as the £1.50 per dose is intended to cover these.  The service is being funded from NHS England’s annual flu vaccination programme budget.

Key points

• Available to all pharmacies in England from September 2015.
• Commissioned on an annual basis.
• The National PGD only covers NHS vaccinations for those in risk categories above 18 years of age as defined in DoH Flu letter Appendix A.
• Locally, health authorities may wish to add additional patient groups and vaccines so make sure you are in regular contact with your LPC.

Action points

If you want to take part in this service look at training now:

• No national training is offered - we can provide you with the training required for this service.
• Train more than one pharmacist - to cope with demand covering high volume of patients and holiday periods.
• Involve your pharmacy team - we have videos in our training to support the service
• Speak to local GPs to work together to ensure patients aren’t confused and targets are met.

Why choose us?

• 2 hours of HD, in pharmacy footage of how to operate your new service.
• Ongoing support and point of sales materials to support your training.
• Training in techniques that suit all vaccination services such as NHS-commissioned services and private PGD travel services.
• A wider choice of vaccines through an open flu PGD.