Community Pharmacy England (CPE) - News updates

Negotiations on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) arrangements for 2026/27 are still in progress between Community Pharmacy England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England. Whilst all parties have been working hard on the negotiations, it is clear that they will not reach a conclusion before the start of the [...] The post CPCF 2026/27: Ongoing negotiations mean no immediate changes appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has today (27/03/2026) confirmed the following list of price concessions for March 2026: Please note: Community Pharmacy England has submitted price concession applications for a number of other medicines affected by pricing issues this month. We will issue further updates as soon as we hear back from the [...] The post March 2026 Price Concessions 3rd Update appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Following representations from Community Pharmacy England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has re-determined that the following products will be granted special container status from 1 April 2026. Generic drug name (dm+d descriptor) Brand and/or manufacturer Pack Size Special container Afatinib 20mg tablets Giotrif® 20mg tablets (Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd) 28 tablet        [...] The post 13 products re-classified as special containers from April 2026 appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

The Drug Tariff Preface published monthly, lists additions, deletions and other changes to products listed in the Drug Tariff. Below is a summary of the changes coming into effect from 1 April 2026. Key g Special container – This product is a special container and should be dispensed in its complete original pack size. n Item requiring reconstitution [...] The post Drug Tariff Watch – April 2026 appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

MHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Apixaban 2.5mg and 5mg tablets (Sandoz Limited) Drug alert number: EL(26)A/17 Date issued: 26 March 2026 Sandoz Ltd. have informed the MHRA that the Patient Information Leaflet included in specified batches of Apixaban does not contain up‑to‑date information. DMRC reference number: DMRC-38614094 Marketing Authorisation Holder: Sandoz Limited Medicine Details Product [...] The post MHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Apixaban 2.5mg and 5mg tablets (Sandoz Limited) appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

NHS England has issued an operational briefing via its regions to all pharmacies and general practices providing an update on the Meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent and announcing the waiving of NHS prescription charges for prophylactic oral Ciprofloxacin prescriptions issued to patients in relation to the outbreak. Prescribers in general practices have been asked to [...] The post Free supply extended to Ciprofloxacin for meningococcal outbreak appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

MHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets (Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited) Drug alert number: EL(26)A/16 Date issued: 26 March 2026 Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited have informed the MHRA that their parallel imported packs of Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets have been printed with the incorrect barcode/GTIN on the carton. DMRC [...] The post MHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets (Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited) appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Pharmacy teams are reminded that FreeStyle® Libre 3 Sensor (Abbott Laboratories Ltd) has been discontinued and will be deleted from Part IX of the April 2026  Drug Tariff. Any NHS prescriptions for the FreeStyle® Libre 3 Sensor dispensed from 1 April 2026 will be disallowed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). Patients currently using the [...] The post Reminder – Discontinuation of FreeStyle® Libre 3 Sensor appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Regular occurrences of abuse against community pharmacy teams are making their working life increasingly difficult, and at times dangerous, new research from Community Pharmacy England has demonstrated. A recent survey of more than 3,000 pharmacy premises found that: More than half (55%) of pharmacies had experienced verbal abuse in the preceding six months, with three-quarters [...] The post Racist, hostile, verbal and physical abuse of pharmacy teams now a regular occurrence appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.

Pharmacy owners have until the end of Tuesday 31st March 2026 to have their evidence to demonstrate meeting the 2025/26 Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) domains that they have claimed for. Pharmacy owners were required to complete a PQS declaration between 9am on 2nd February 2026 and 11.59pm on 27th February 2026. However, pharmacy owners have [...] The post PQS: 31st March deadline approaches appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.