12 April 2012
Changes to the NMS payment structure
From May 2012 contractors will earn between £20 and £28 for each NMS full service intervention they provide depending on the total number of patients who receive the service in the month.
In recognition of the work that contractors undertook between October 2011 and April 2012, a loyalty payment will be made to contractors linked to the number of full service interventions provided during that period
Guidance on the new payment structure has been released by NHS Employers and PSNC.
13 January 2012
Guidance for community and hospital pharmacists
NHS Employers and PSNC have published new guidance showing how the New Medicine Service (NMS) and post discharge Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) can be used to provide a seamless care pathway for patients who transfer from hospital to the community setting. Hospitals and community pharmacists can use the support tools to formalise how they tell each other about changes to patients' prescriptions. Click here to download the documents.
12 October 2011
The New Medicine Service (NMS) is the fourth advanced service for community pharmacies that has been negotiated by NHS Employers and the PSNC, and agreed by the Department of Health. It is designed to provide early support to patients to maximise the benefits of the medication they have been prescribed and is based on research which shows that an early intervention by a pharmacist can help to improve patients’ adherence to their medicines and reduce the use of other NHS resources. It was introduced on 1 October 2010 and is time-limited until March 2013; it will continue beyond that time if all parties agree that the service has provided demonstrable value to the NHS. DH has released the ITT document for the evaluation that will be undertaken.
This page is a summary of the key documents that have been released.
• The regulatory framework for the service is contained within the Pharmaceutical Services (Advanced and Enhanced Services) (England) Directions 2011.
• NHS Employers and PSNC have jointly published a comprehensive guidance document for the NMS.
• Details of the payments that will be made to contractors by NHS Prescription Services on behalf of PCTs can be found in the Drug Tariff.
• NHS Employers and PSNC have released the final service specification.
• The NMS focuses on the following patient groups and conditions:
o asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
o type 2 diabetes
o antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy
o hypertension.
A list of ‘NMS medicines’ has been agreed for each.
• Pharmacists who wish to provide the service will need to have the necessary skills and knowledge. They are required to complete a self-assessment declaration which should be retained by the contractor. These forms are not to be submitted to the PCT
• Pharmacies wishing to provide the service are required to notify their PCT prior to commencement and a template PCT notification form has been produced for this purpose.
• Pharmacies must meet seven conditions before notifying their PCT of their intention to provide the service. One of these conditions (condition 6) requires the contractor to have notified local GP practices of their intention to provide the service. NHS Employers, PSNC and the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) have written to LPCs and LMCs to encourage them to facilitate local discussions and have also produced a briefing for GPs on the changes to the CPCF.
• A NMS implementation payment claim form is available on the NHSBSA Prescription Services website.
• Patients are required to consent to both receive the service and to allow the community pharmacy to share information from the NMS with other parts of the NHS. The wording that must be used in the patient consent form is now available.
• NHS Employers and PSNC have also developed text for use in patient leaflets for the NMS. The use of this text is not mandatory.
• A NMS interview schedule has been developed to help pharmacists shape the conversation they have with patients at the intervention and follow-up stages of the service. The interview is based on the approach used in the proof of concept research and members of the original team have helped to design it. It has been tested with other stakeholders.
• A national NMS feedback form has been developed for use by pharmacists in order to provide a template for concise feedback to GPs if, during the course of the NMS, the pharmacist thinks there are issues the GP should be aware of. Community pharmacies are required to use this form in their written communication with GPs. Use of the form does not preclude pharmacists from contacting the patient's GP via telephone or face to face if an urgent issue is identified with the patient during the NMS. This can be followed up in writing using the feedback form.
• Pharmacies are required to prepare a written record of each consultation. This may be an electronic record. The record must however include certain specific data.
• PCTs may request specific data from those pharmacies providing the service on a quarterly basis. A national data template has been produced for this purpose. PCTs wishing to receive this data should advise their pharmacies accordingly and should provide contact details for the person who should receive this data.
• PCC has produced a template letter that PCTs may wish to use when requesting information from pharmacy contractors providing the medicine use review (MUR) service and the new medicine service (NMS).
• NHS Employers and PSNC have produced a document that explains the relationship between this service and medicines use reviews