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Pharmacies are busy places. Pharmacy technicians perform vital duties in support of pharmacists — counting pills, entering patient data, waiting on customers, and explaining the use and effects of drugs and medical devices. Pharmacies couldn’t run without them, and they deserve a day of appreciation for all their tireless work! So on October 17, we celebrate the people behind the counter. 

National Pharmacy Technician Day recognises the invaluable contributions made by pharmacy technicians to patient health, safety and as an integral part of the healthcare team. It's also a day for pharmacy technicians to reflect on their careers and realise the impact they've had on patients and fellow pharmacy professionals.

Therefore, we want to say a huge thank you to all of the pharmacy technicians working so tirelessly every single day to help our patients across Northamptonshire, and we hope you will join us in thanking your local technicians for their hard work and dedication to providing quality healthcare!

Why National Pharmacy Technician Day is important:

• Pharmacy technicians improve patient safety. By ensuring that medications are dispensed correctly and in a timely manner, pharmacy technicians play an important role in patient safety. They are responsible for double checking prescriptions and maintaining accuracy in the preparation of medications, which helps reduce the risk of incorrect dosages or dangerous drug interactions. If it were not for their tireless attention to detail, our health could be in danger.
   
• Pharmacy technicians save time and money. Because they are experts in medication dispensing and handling insurance forms, pharmacy technicians can effectively reduce wait times at pharmacies. They also help cut down on costs by ensuring that correct information is obtained regarding insurers and drug coverage plans.
   
• Pharmacy technicians work long hours -The average pharmacy technician works long shifts — 8, 10 even 12 hours on their feet. And because many pharmacies are open 24 hours a day, pharmacy technicians often work nights and weekends, all so that we can have our medication as soon as we need it.
   
• Pharmacy technicians provide excellent customer service. The friendly and knowledgeable staff of a pharmacy are essential for creating a pleasant shopping experience. Pharmacy technicians are often on the front lines providing customers with answers to their questions about medications and offering advice about different treatment options.

 

Read National Pharmacy Technician Day 2023…

This month (October) is Menopause Awareness Month and on Wednesday 18 October 2023, Integrated Care Northamptonshire is celebrating World Menopause Day. This is a chance to raise awareness of menopause, the impact it can have and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing.

The menopause is experienced by those born with ovaries, usually between the ages of 45-55, though some can experience it earlier than this for natural reasons and others may experience it earlier through medical interventions or surgery.

Menopause is a very personal experience and can affect people at work in various ways. To help people stay well at work, it is so important for us all to understand menopause better, whether that is with regard to our own menopause, or to understand menopause in others. We all have an important role to play in ensuring that anyone experiencing menopausal symptoms gets the same support and understanding as if they had any other health issue.

Why is raising awareness so important?

According to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 59% of women who experienced menopausal symptoms said it had a negative effect on their work and around one in six people (17%) have considered leaving work due to a lack of support in relation to their menopause symptoms. The easier you make it for someone to open up to you, the easier it will be to identify the support they need.

Each person will be affected in different ways and to different degrees over different periods of time, and symptoms can often indirectly affect their partners, families and colleagues as well. Menopause can affect people’s confidence and it can be very daunting talking to someone who has no knowledge/ or awareness of the menopause.

Integrated Care Northamptonshire is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment for everyone and we recognise that people experiencing the perimenopause or menopause, whether before, during or after this time of hormonal change and associated symptoms, may need additional consideration, support and adjustments.

What can you do to help?

Becoming menopause aware for yourself and your colleagues is one of the easiest things that you can do to support yourself, your team and your colleagues – and the following resources and information are available to help with this:

• Menopause awareness e-learning for healthcare module for all health and care colleagues. Get support with registration to access the training.
• Menopause information on the NHS website

Available support

• NHS Northamptonshire Talking Therapies offers interactive support with a menopause webinar and workshop available to help anyone who thinks that they might be going through any stage of the menopause (perimenopause, menopause or postmenopause) and experiencing low mood or anxiety. The workshop will help you to help yourself in managing your symptoms that are impacting your mood. If you are interested in joining this workshop, the first step is to register for support by completing the online registration form
• The Midlands Menopause Community of Practice is a group that helps NHS colleagues deal with menopause. The agenda is led by the network and often will include shared lived experiences from members and time for questions and answers. NHS colleagues are invited to register online if they wish to join
• National menopause guidance has been developed by NHS England for line managers and colleagues experiencing the menopause
• The NHS Menopause Hub, in partnership with Joined Up Derbyshire, has developed a series of menopause support sessions for colleagues across health and social care, starting 16 October – find out more and book online on Eventbrite

Additional support offered by Northamptonshire NHS organisations

• Kettering General Hospital – menopause information on the KGH intranet (accessible to KGH staff only)
• NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board – ICB menopause policy (accessible to ICB staff only)
• Northampton General Hospital – menopause information available on The Street health and wellbeing pages (accessible to NGH staff only)
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – menopause information available on the Staff Room health and wellbeing pages and menopause guidance for staff, including a menopause passport and a symptom checker (accessible to NHFT staff only)

Your menopause experience at work

Integrated Care Northamptonshire is working to increase the awareness of menopause and highlight the support available for the NHS and social care workforce across Northamptonshire, alongside creating a menopause-friendly culture, retaining valuable skills and talent with our workforce, and improving the health and wellbeing of our teams.

Please help us understand how our staff experience menopause in the workplace and tell what else we can do to raise awareness and improve the working lives of our workforce by completing this short questionnaire.

You don’t need to be someone with experience of menopause personally to take part.

Read Highlighting menopause support available this Menopause Awareness Month…

GPs and other health professionals are being invited to access NHFT’s Baby Loss Awareness Conference remotely.

The special Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT)conference, dedicated to baby and pregnancy loss and how people have been supported through their experience, is taking place on Thursday 12 October from 9am to 3pm at Duston Community Centre, Pendle Rd, Northampton NN5 6DT.

GPs and health professionals, who are not able to attend in person, can access the conference remotely via this link. 

Baby Loss Awareness Week 2023 runs from Monday 9 October to Sunday 15 October. The conference, on Thursday 12 October, will include talks from people with lived experience who will be sharing their personal stories and how they have sought support for their mental health.

It is open to health professionals and the public and will be hosted by the Maternal Loss Psychology Service (MLPS) – formerly known as the Maternal Mental Health Service.

The event will share more about the service, and what interventions are available for people experiencing mental health difficulties associated with baby/pregnancy loss. This includes anyone who is currently pregnant following previous baby/pregnancy loss, or who has lost a baby or pregnancy in the last 12 months.

Dr Kirsty Harris, NHFT’s Specialist Perinatal Consultant Clinical Psychologist said: “We’re inviting all professionals who work with parents and families, who have experienced baby/pregnancy loss, and those who have been affected by, or interested in developing their understanding of this to come along to this event and find out what interventions are available for people experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties associated with baby loss.”

Read Baby Loss Awareness Conference – access event online…

We are delighted to share with you that the Northamptonshire Care Record (NCR) is now available for GP practices and healthcare professionals across Northamptonshire.

You can watch a recording of the NCR launch event for Primary Care here. The event took place on Thursday 19 October, 2023:

The recording includes a demostration of the NCR in action and you can hear about the fantastic benefits of using the system.  Furthermore, you will hear from colleagues who have already been using the NCR as part of our testing phase. Finally, we introduce you to the communications resources we have produced for you and your patients.

What is the NCR?

The NCR is a new way of joining up patient records held by health and care providers across the county so that professionals can instantly access patient information held by other providers. More information can be found here.

What do I need to do to get access?

Access to the system is via Single Sign On (SSO) from either your EMIS or TPP system.

• You will need to undertake a small piece of configuration work to enable your access to the NCR.

Firstly, please email us at northantsicb.northamptonshirecarerecord@nhs.net to obtain the username and password for the SSO account.

Then click here for your SSO EMIS guide and here for the SSO TPP guide for easy-to-follow instructions on how to set up.

Once you have configured the SSO link, you will then have access to NCR for each patient you view. The NCR user guide will show you how to navigate NCR and including some FAQs – we recommend looking through these.

If you require any assistance with setting up the SSO link, we are more than happy to help you. Please contact us via northantsicb.northamptonshirecarerecord@nhs.net and we will arrange a short Teams call with you.

The Northamptonshire Care Record is a huge breakthrough for health and social care providers in our county. This innovative system will modernise the way professionals share and access information to improve the quality of care for patients.  

For more information about the NCR visit connectingyourcare.net.

If you have any queries, contact the NCR team at northantsicb.northamptonshirecarerecord@nhs.net

 

Read The Northamptonshire Care Record is available for all GP Practices…

As part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Inclusive Leadership Programme, Integrated Care Northamptonshire (ICN) is running two ‘Listening into Action’ events to understand more about how our organisations and leaders can create a safe environment for staff to speak up against bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

These events on 21 and 24 November will be facilitated by key executive leaders from across our integrated care system and region including:

• Jessica Sokolov –Medical Director and Chief Clinical Information Officer, NHS England
• Steve Morrison –Director of Workforce and OD, NHS England
• Alice McGee – Chief People Officer, LLR and Northamptonshire ICBs
• Matt Metcalfe – Chief Medical Officer Northamptonshire ICB

ICN recognises the importance of supporting staff to feel free to speak and challenge anyone, irrespective of authority, and encouraging people to admit mistakes or seek support. Sadly, our people do not always feel safe to do so. We want to work with leaders to understand:

• the barriers to speaking up and/or challenges that prevent staff from speaking up
• the challenges that leaders face to take appropriate action when staff raise concerns
• whether leaders understand the role they play in creating a safe environment for staff to speak up
• what changes leaders can make to improve the confidence of staff speaking up
• whether we have enough information about the barriers that prevent speaking up – and if we do… what are we not doing, as leaders, to break those barriers down?
• what actions need to be taken now to ensure that we bring about the change we want to see

Your voice is important to us and we value your contribution, so please spare two hours to join us to explore this very important topic.

The events are taking place as follows:

• Tuesday 21 November, 10am to 12pm – in-person event (location TBC)
• Friday 24 November, 1pm to 3pm – virtual event (MS Teams)

Register your interest at https://forms.office.com/e/E1UgTNCQf2

These events are relevant to the following groups:

• Senior leaders
• Members of the people board
• Members of the inclusive culture and leadership workstreams
• EDI Leads
• Human resources / employment relations leads
• Freedom to Speak Up leads, champions and representatives (or equivalent for organisations without Freedom to Speak Up)
• Trade union representatives / Staff side colleagues
• Staff network leads

(This list is non-exhaustive and you are welcome to share with leaders that you feel could contribute or benefit from the events.)

If you would like to be involved but are unable to attend, please consider forwarding this invite to someone who could deputise or attend on your behalf.

If you have any questions, please contact llr.academy@nhs.net

Read Events encourage speaking up against bullying, harassment and discrimination…