First Floor
Runcorn Town Hall
Heath Road
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 5TD
NHS Halton CCG - Prime Ministers Challenge Fund
Community Pharmacy schemes
Expression of Interest from Halton Pharmacies
Following the successful awarding of nearly £1.6m of (non-recurrent) funding to support the
Together for the health of Halton Prime Ministers Challenge Fund (PMCF), a number of schemes are
being developed and imminently ‘going live’.
The PMCF is designed to offer extended and alternative choices of access into General Practice and
Primary Care. It also offers the opportunity to use the non-recurrent funding to test innovative
practice and solutions and to monitor and evaluate their effectiveness.
One of the schemes NHS Halton CCG and General Practice in Halton is developing and implementing
is about the expansion of Community Pharmacy, coupled with more integrated working between
local pharmacies and General Practice. We truly believe that whilst expanded and alternative
services in pharmacy will result in a benefit for both the patient as well as the overall health system,
even more benefits will be realised by closer and more joined up working and information sharing
between local pharmacies and GP surgeries. We recognise the need to invest in the relationships
and to this end, have formed a small oversight group to manage this project that includes LPC
representation, the GP Clinical Lead for Medicines Management and representation from the CCG.
We will be running a series of engagement events, inviting local pharmacists and GPs to discuss the
overall PMCF programme, all the schemes as well as other relevant developments throughout the
year too.
The benefits we are looking to achieve overall are:
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Improved and extended service access;
Greater convenience for patients;
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Dovetails with GP services to improve care;
Reduced avoidable admissions;
Reduced demand on GP appointments for minor ailments and routine LTCs
Patient education about choice of services.
To this end, we are going to use an element of the budget available to target respiratory disease
which is a significant challenge across Halton. We have secured funding for 12 months and are
looking to get schemes up and running from September/October 2015.
There are two schemes in development;
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1. Childhood asthma Scheme:
To provide a pharmacy-led intervention in schools that will contribute to a measurable
improvement in the inhaler technique, adherence, and associated health outcomes, of children
and young people (CYP) with asthma in primary and secondary school settings.
To assess, and if necessary improve, inhaler technique for each CYP during one school-based
pharmacy-led workshop and one follow-up workshop
To show a reduction at follow-up in self- and/or parent-reported:
a. Number of school days lost
b. A&E attendances
c. Emergency hospital admissions
d. GP / OOH appointments
To assess, and if necessary, improve condition control
To show an improvement in quality of life – in terms of symptoms, activity limitation and
emotional function – at follow-up
To assess, and increase if necessary, the self- and/or parent-reported adherence of CYP to their
asthma therapy
To increase the confidence of CYP, parents and teachers in the use of inhalers
2. Adult Respiratory Reviews
To support patients with diagnosed COPD to get the most from their respiratory medicines
through improved understanding, adherence and technique.
To improve quality of life and confidence to get involved in additional activities as a result of
feeling better.
To reduce exacerbations and reduce avoidable admissions for COPD patients.
To support the optimal use of rescue packs (antibiotics and steroids)
To support the development of patient COPD self-management plans alongside local GPs and
practice nurses.
Detailed specifications are being developed at the moment and will be available in due course.
We are therefore seeking Expressions of Interest from Community Pharmacies who are keen to work
with the CCG and local practices on these two schemes.
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We are looking to identify up to a maximum of 4 pharmacies to support the childhood
asthma school programme
We are looking for up to 6 pharmacies to support the adult respiratory review programme.
Two essential criteria to consider are that by expressing an interest, you are committing to taking
part in any relevant training sessions and that you are also prepared to talk to colleagues and peers
about the programme of work and share lessons and experiences. Sharing the knowledge and
lessons is a key feature of the overall PMCF programme.
Appendix A and B contain an expression of interest form for each scheme, please complete these
forms and submit to John.hewitt@haltonccg.nhs.uk by 04th September 2015. The oversight group
will then assess the applications against the stated criteria. Successful applicants will be informed
before 14th September 2015.
If you have any further questions about PMCF scheme please contact Karen Irvine via the email
address above.
Appendix A
Expression of Interest Form PMCF Community Pharmacy Schemes
Pharmacy Name, Address and Telephone number:
Name of Key Contact and contact details (including email address):
Geographical Area Covered including main local GP Practices:
Pharmacy Opening Hours:
Other services offered:
The pharmacy named above would like to express an interest in piloting the following PMCF
schemes:
Paediatric Asthma Schools Programme
Adult Respiratory Reviews Programme
Signed: _______________________________ Date: _____________________
Print Name: _________________________________
Designation: _________________________________