PQS: NHS Profile Manager updated for PEoLC criterion
Community pharmacy contractors are now able to update NHS Profile Manager if they routinely hold the 16 palliative and end of life care (PEoLC) medicines listed in the Drug Tariff and can support local access to parenteral haloperidol.
This requirement is a criterion in the ‘Addressing unwarranted variation in care’ domain of the 2022/23 Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS). Contractors are encouraged to update NHS Profile Manager as soon as possible if they meet the requirement and must do so by 31st March 2023 to meet the PQS criterion.
If contractors are NOT a stockholder of these 16 PEoLC medicines, they are NOT required to update NHS Profile Manager.
How to update NHS Profile Manager to meet the quality criterion
If your pharmacy routinely holds the 16 PEoLC medicines and can support local access to parenteral haloperidol:
- Log in to NHS Profile Manager;
- Click on ‘Check your profiles’;
- Click on the profile of the pharmacy that you want to update (some people will have access to profiles for more than one pharmacy);
- Click on ‘Manage your services’;
- Click on ‘Manage your Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) services’;
- Tick ‘Pharmacy palliative care medication stockholder’;
- Click ‘Continue’; and
- Confirm your answer on the next page by clicking ‘Save and confirm’.
You should receive a confirmation message on screen that your update has been accepted.
FAQs
Q. If my pharmacy does not routinely stock the 16 PEoLC medicines listed in the Addressing unwarranted variation in care domain, do I need to start stocking these medicines to be able to claim as meeting the requirements of the domain?
No. If you do not routinely stock these medicines, there is no requirement to stock these medicines to meet the requirements of the domain.
Q. Will I receive an email to confirm that I have updated NHS Profile Manager to show that my pharmacy is a Pharmacy palliative care medication stockholder?
No. However, you could consider taking screenshots of NHS Profile Manager to show that the pharmacy profile has been updated.
Q. My pharmacy normally stocks the 16 PEoLC, but one of the medicines is out of stock, do I need to update NHS Profile Manager?
No. The PQS requirement requires the pharmacy to ‘routinely’ hold the 16 PEoLC medicines. Therefore, if you would normally have this medicine in stock, then your pharmacy is still a Pharmacy palliative care medication stockholder and there is no requirement to update NHS Profile Manager.
Q. Can a contractor still achieve all the points (10 points for a band 4 pharmacy) for the Addressing unwarranted variation in care domain if they do not stock the 16 PEoLC medicines listed in the Addressing unwarranted variation in care domain?
Yes. If contractors do not stock these medicines, they are not required to update NHS Profile Manager. They can, however, still claim all the points for the domain by creating an action plan (as detailed in the Drug Tariff) to use if the pharmacy receives a prescription for one of these PEoLC medicines and they do not have the medicine in stock.
Q. Do contractors need to create an action plan if they routinely stock the 16 PEoLC medicines?
Yes. All contractors who plan to claim for the Addressing unwarranted variation in care domain will need to complete the action plan, regardless of whether they stock the 16 PEoLC medicines. This is because even if a contractor routinely stocks these medicines, there may be occasions when they do not have a certain medicine in stock, for example, they gave out the medicine earlier that day and are waiting for replacement stock to arrive. Due to the urgent need of these medicines, it is important that contractors can assist a patient or their relative or carer in obtaining the medicines they require as swiftly as possible by re-directing them to the nearest open pharmacy that has this medicine.
