Change4Life is a society-wide movement that aims to prevent people from becoming overweight by encouraging them to eat better and move more.  The Change4Life advertising campaign began on Saturday 3 January – on TV, in the press, on billboards and online. In the initial stage, young families are being targeted. This is an opportunity for pharmacy to be involved. A range of posters and various materials are available from the Department of Health, 0300 123 1002, or check out the website for details.

Sheffield pharmacist and LPC member, with a developing career in broadcasting, Ravi Mohan, will be talking about this on Radio Sheffield on Thursday, January 15^th.

This new enhanced service, known as MIES for short, is being commissioned to improve treatment outcomes for certain mental health patients. Initially being piloted for 6 months in the west of Sheffield the MIES scheme requires that the client enter into an agreement whereby any failure to collect their medication will be shared with those involved in their treatment. Under the scheme the client identifies the pharmacy who are to order and dispense the prescription. The pharmacy can then alert the Community Mental Health Team in the event of a non collection.

Under the Service Level Agreement the pharmacy must have robust systems in place which include a suitable SOP. A template SOP can be downloaded here and modified to suit the particular pharmacy.    

NHS Sheffield (previously Sheffield PCT) has made many of their policies available on the NHS Sheffield Website . There are three policies that are directly concerned with infection control and which are applicable to pharmacy:-

• Safe Disposal of Sharps
• Spilled Body Fluids
• Hand Washing

Links to these policies can be found on the Resources page of this website.

Obviously, these policies will need to be suitable revised to fit the specific arrangements within individual pharmacies.

Sheffield Contractors should be aware that since the reorganisation of the PCT there is a new access number for any concerns involving possible child abuse - 0114 205 3535. Contractors can download a suitable poster for display in the dispensary.

Other support materials include the Society Guidance on Child Protection as well as a learning module available from the CPPE. 

***** IMPORTANT CHANGE - NEW SPEAKER *****

Sheffield LPC will be holding the Annual General Meeting and City-Wide Update at the Victoria Holiday Inn on the evening of November 6th. The LPC is delighted to announce that the guest speaker will be Jonathan Mason, the newly appointed National Clinical Director for Primary care and Community Pharmacy. Details will be announced shortly.

Sheffield is in the process of launching a pharmacy based chlamydia screening service. There is so much interest in this service that the first training evening held earlier this month is being followed by a second event on the 30th September.

Not all pharmacies participating in the service have toilet facilities for the public. Before the public are allowed access to staff toilet facilities a risk assessment must be carried out to ensure security, safety and confidentiality. Contractors are also reminded to ensure that their public liability insurance includes allowing the public access to these areas. Most policies apply only to those areas that have been included as part of the pharmacy for registration with the Pharmaceutical Society. Contractors needing to extend the registration can do so, without cost, by submitting suitable plans to the society.  

Sheffield PCT has recently sent all pharmacies a set of guidance developed by the Sheffield Care Homes Best Bractice Group. This guidance covers a number of topics: PRN Medicines , Fentanyl , Covert Administration , Expiry Dates and Homely Remedies.

The guides are also available electronically from the download section of this website. Furthermore, the Sheffield First Medication Policy that applies to service users in their own home has also been made available on this website.