SUBSTANCE MISUSE
Number of adults in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services in England is almost 290,000.¹
The pharmacist is required to supervise the consumption of a medicine prescribed to the patient, for the purposes of dependence and/or addiction to ensure the entire dose is taken as directed. Common medicines which may have to be supervised include methadone and buprenorphine.
Pharmacies can also provide harm reduction items such as clean needles, sharps bins, swabs and citric acid as well as sexual health advice. Any used equipment can be returned for destruction in a safe sharps disposal bin.
The aim of these services is to reduce the harms associated with drug taking to the service user and on the wider society. The service user will be given help, support and signposting to additional services in a non-judgemental and confidential service.
- How do I become accredited to provide the supervised consumption service in Warwickshire?
- How do I become accredited to provide the needle exchange service in Warwickshire?
- Do I need a Hepatitis B vaccination to provide these services?
- The Pharmacy has run out of needle/syringe packs, where do I order them from?
- How does the Pharmacy get paid for providing supervised consumption?
- How does the Pharmacy get paid for providing the needle exchange service?
- I have a concern about a service user, what should I do?
- How does the Coronavirus crisis impact this service?
- Can pharmacies still claim the normal fees for supervised consumption during the Coronavirus crisis?
- Restoration of DU services following the Coronavirus crisis
Participating pharmacies must ensure that a designated pharmacist has completed
CPPE learning for Substance Use and Misuse within the past 3 years.
Current training (updated in December 2017) takes the form of a 4 module Elearning
sessions with an E-assessment.
CPPE certificates for all individuals providing the service from the pharmacy
must be uploaded onto the DPS system, before the commission
commences. All certificates must be dated within the last 3 years. The
commissioner will accept e-assessment certificates based upon the previous
CPPE substance use and misuse distance learning or e-learning modules so
long as they were completed within the last 3 years.
It is the responsibility of the designated pharmacist to be assured that all staff
(including support staff and locum pharmacists) are adequately trained to meet the
requirements of the service at all times and that information on the DPS is current
and updated as staff change.
Training schedule should include:
– The role of Supervised Consumption services
– The PharmOutcomes System and pages for the service
– Aims & objectives of a Supervised Consumption provision
– The Supervised Consumption procedure
– Medications used for Supervised Consumption
– Health promotion, safer injecting, overdose, drug awareness
– FAQs
Participating pharmacies must ensure that a designated pharmacist has completed
CPPE learning for Substance Use and Misuse within the past 3 years.
Current training (updated in December 2017) takes the form of a 4 module Elearning
sessions with an E-assessment.
CPPE certificates for all individuals providing the service from the pharmacy
must be uploaded onto the DPS system, before the commission
commences. All certificates must be dated within the last 3 years. The
commissioner will accept e-assessment certificates based upon the previous
CPPE substance use and misuse distance learning or e-learning modules so
long as they were completed within the last 3 years.
It is the responsibility of the designated pharmacist to be assured that all staff
(including support staff and locum pharmacists) are adequately trained to meet the
requirements of the service at all times and that information on the DPS is current
and updated as staff change.
Training schedule should include:
– The role of Needle And Syringe Co-ordinator
– The PharmOutcomes System and pages for the service
– Aims & objectives of a Needle and Syringe provision
– Other provision of Needle and Syringe in Warwickshire
– The Needle and Syringe procedure
– Equipment used within Needle and Syringe
– Clinical waste management
– Health promotion, safer injecting, overdose, drug awareness
– Policies & procedures for needle stick injuries, disposal of sharps, blood borne
viruses, confidentiality, contra-indications to service, dealing with young people
– FAQs
It is not a requirement but it is recommended.
Orion Medical is the recommended supplier of the needle and syringe packs across both Coventry and Warwickshire and only they should be used for any pharmacy supplied needles and syringes within these areas.
Orion Medical contact details:
Telephone No: 01869 244423
Email Address: deborah@orionmp.co.uk
Fax No: 05603 143849
For all pharmacy based supervised consumption schemes the payment is currently:
– Methadone / Physeptone £2 per supervision
– Buprenorphine/Subutex/Suboxone £3 per supervision
Payment claims will be submitted automatically to Commissioners following the
information recorded on the Supervised Consumption PharmOutcomes system.
Claim queries should be directed to Warwickshire County Council, Public Health
Drug and Alcohol Commissioners.
For all pharmacy based needle and Syringe schemes the payment is currently 60p
per individual pack supplied. This payment will be reviewed as part of the overall
review of this contract on an annual basis.
Payment claims will be submitted automatically to Commissioners following
information recorded on the Needle Exchange PharmOutcomes system.
Fees will be within the standards for public services payment, following
Commissioner approval.
Claim queries should be directed to Warwickshire County Council, Public Health
Drug and Alcohol Commissioners.
Contact the client key worker or safeguarding lead for local authority.
Please see the letter below that was sent to all service providers in Warwickshire regarding MAT provisions:
MAT letter for Commissioners 19.03.20
We are aware that some pharmacies may choose to request clients to access the service during specific hours only and that some pharmacies will need to close or temporarily suspend services due to staffing issues.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT PHARMACIES COMMUNICATE ANY SERVICE PROVISION DIFFICULTIES TO PATIENTS AND COMMISSIONERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Please ensure patient signposting information is displayed OUTSIDE the building so that patients can access services when they need them.
To temporarily ease pressure during the COVID-19 situation, you will have noticed that some drug user clients have been reviewed and may have been temporarily amended to pick up prescriptions at appropriate intervals and temporarily may not require supervision. We have requested that the prescribing team staggers pick up days and collections fall during the week where possible.
Please continue to claim payment for prescriptions in exactly the same way from NHSBSA, however, for those clients who have temporarily moved from supervised consumption to pick ups, WCC have agreed to continue to fund the supervision fee if you would normally claim it for those patients. Continue to claim through the normal processes.
We hope that these measures will help to relieve workload and safety pressures without impacting on income.
The following communications have been sent to Community Pharmacies in Warwickshire:
Reference
(1) National Treatment Agency, www.nta.nhs.uk/facts
