PLEASE NOTE: As from the 31st January 2024, CPCS has been renamed Pharmacy First Service. Please see the Government's Pharmacy First Contractual Framework for more details.
The Pharmacy First template can be found on the Reception and Administration template by clicking on the "Pharmacy First" button.
The Reception and Administration template can be found either under Auto-Consultations - ardens OTHER PROFESSIONALS, or by clicking on the Reception and Admin button on the toolbar.
Alternatively, the Pharmacy First template could be added to your F12 Favourite screen for quick access.
The Pharmacy First template can be used to send and record a referral under the Pharmacy First Contractual Framework. There are two types of referrals under this scheme, the first is for minor illness, which replaces the previous CPCS service and the second is for a clinical pathways referral which covers 7 common conditions that can be treated by the pharmacist. These include Impetigo, Infected Insect Bites, Acute Otitis Media, Shingles, Acute Sinusitis, Acute Sore Throat and Uncomplicated UTI in women.
Sending a referral for Pharmacy First Service (minor illness consultation)
Pharmacy First referral can be easily sent from the Pharmacy First template. The reason for referral can be quickly documented by clicking on the preset text icon to the right of "Reason for referral". This is pre-populated with a list of conditions NHS England recommends as being appropriate to refer to under this service. Once the reason for referral has been documented, any other notes required can be entered in the Notes and Additional Comments box. Patients' agreement to be referred to the Pharmacist can be documented by using the "Referral to pharmacy first service" read code.
Clicking on the "Pharmacy First Referral" button will launch a word document, pre-populated with the patient's demographic information. If you select a pharmacy from the practice's address book, it will also pre-populate with the details of the pharmacy the referral is being sent to.
Once the document has loaded, it can be checked and any additional information added. If the Pharmacy First template was saved and reopened when generating the referral document, the reason for the referral will have auto-populated from the template. Once you are happy with the document, save it to the patient's record using "Save Final Version".
Once the document has been saved to the patient's record, it should show in the view at the bottom of the Pharmacy First template. From here you can right-click on the letter and select send via NHSmail. You will then need to select "Existing Contact" and choose the pharmacy to send to from your Address Book. When the patient's record is saved, this will email a copy of the referral document to the pharmacy.
Adding a Pharmacy to your Address Book
If your local pharmacies are not already present in your SystmOne address book, these can be easily added by a SystmOne administrator. Go to Setup > Referrals and Letters > Address Book from here a new place can be added with the contact type of pharmacy. Ensure the pharmacy's name, address, and email is added to the record before saving.
Sending a referral for Pharmacy First service (clinical pathways consultation)
The inclusion and exclusion criteria for each of the 7 conditions can be checked before the referral is made to the pharmacy to avoid unnecessary referrals. Log in to PharmRefer by clicking on the link to complete the referral to the community pharmacy. Ideally this should be done electronically and not via email. For those practices without a PharmRefer login, the steps for sending the referral via NHS mail can be followed as above.
Any other notes required can be entered in the Notes and Additional Comments box. Patients' agreement to be referred to the Pharmacist can be documented by using the "Referral to pharmacy first service" read code.
Receiving completed consultations from the Pharmacy
Community Pharmacies will be able to send a summary of the consultation from either the Clinical Pathways or Minor illness consultation. Messages will appear in the GP system generic workflow, and structured data will be provisionally held against the patient record until a member of the practice team reviews and files the data. Structured information will then be ingested into the patient record without the need for transcribing or coding.
Please see Pharmacy First On TPPs website for more information if required.