Pharmacy Services

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) currently commissions two community pharmacy services in Oxfordshire; Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Service and the Guaranteed Provision of Urgent Medicines Scheme. If you have any questions on these services, please contact bobicb-ox.medicines@nhs.net

The pharmacies open on bank holidays can be found on the NHSE website

Guaranteed Provision of Urgent Medicines in the Community across BOB

Community Teams and patients often experience difficulties in obtaining urgent medicines (eg. for palliative care or flu) in a timely way; this can be due to local pharmacies either not holding the required medicines or not stocking sufficient quantities to complete the prescription. In order to overcome such difficulties, BOB ICB commissions some Community Pharmacy contractors to guarantee stocking an agreed selection of routine urgent medicines.  

Details of the participating pharmacies and the list of medicines which they guarantee to hold can be found in the document below. Please be aware that carers and healthcare professionals are not restricted to obtaining these medicines only from the pharmacies taking part in this scheme as prescriptions can be fulfilled by any other community pharmacy, but they may need to order the stock which is often available within 12 hours during weekdays, but longer over a weekend or Bank Holiday.

In addition to the local Guaranteed Provision of Urgent Medicines scheme, the national Community Pharmacy Contract now also includes an element for encouraging more pharmacies to keep the most commonly prescribed medications for managing palliative/end of life care.

The NHS Service Finder can be used by pharmacies and other health care professionals with authorised access to it to identify those pharmacies in their area who have updated their DoS profile to indicate they are holding the 16 critical end of life medicines listed in the national scheme.

To check if a pharmacy is a stockholder of ‘Palliative Medications’ use the NHS Service Finder and search for the ‘Pharmacy Palliative Medication Stock Holder’

In all cases, it is recommended to contact the pharmacy first to confirm stock availability and ensure the pharmacy is aware that the prescription is urgent. 

NB. If Tamiflu is required for use in a Care Home, the pharmacy may not hold sufficient stock to complete all the prescriptions immediately. A few days’ supply may need to be dispensed for each patient so they can all start their course with the rest being ordered for the following day. 

 

 

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Service (Oxfordshire only)

The UTI service allows pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Oxfordshire to treat women suffering from an uncomplicated UTI with nitrofurantoin (an antibiotic), via a Patient Group Direction (PGD). The list of pharmacies providing this service, along with more details from the PGD, can be found in the UTI Service Summary document below. The service is on offer to all community pharmacies in Oxfordshire, if you are interested in providing the service please contact bobicb-ox.medicines@nhs.net.