Best Membership Support – Association Excellence Awards 2024
Published: 07/11/24

Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) has been selected as a finalist in the Best Membership Support category at the Association Excellence Awards 2024, which will take place on Friday 8th November, in London.
We have spent much of the past 18 months supporting members through some of the most challenging times community pharmacy has ever seen, certainly the most challenging in my 18 years at CPS. Since the pandemic released its grip on the community pharmacy network, our members have faced significant operational challenges while continuing to deliver world-leading services to our communities, such as the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland Service, which provides critical advice, referrals, and treatment.
During this period, our members were significantly impacted by technical issues related to the new pharmacy payments system at National Services Scotland. At CPS, it is our role to support our members and ensure they are paid accurately and promptly for the services they provide to their communities. To assist with this, we leveraged our relationships and expertise to influence relevant stakeholders, and our Audit and Services Team continue to audit the impact on pharmacy businesses, enabling pharmacy teams to continue providing care to the people of Scotland. This support has ensured that over £10 million has been recovered for our members — funds that might have been overlooked without our intervention. As a result, members have had improved oversight of their income, helping them remain viable during an extremely challenging financial period. This work will continue until we are able to fully audit not just services payments, but payments for all prescriptions too.
One of our key organisational goals is to establish a Community Pharmacist Independent Prescribing (IP) service in all community pharmacies across Scotland within the next decade. Our proposal for an NHS Pharmacy First Plus Scotland Service has been agreed upon with the Scottish Government. This transformative, pharmacist-led service will ensure sustainability across the network for years to come and creates an attractive environment for pharmacists to apply their valuable skills, helping to recruit and retain talented individuals for the benefit of the communities we serve. To support this, we have:
Agreed with the Scottish Government to allocate portions of the Global Sum and Non-Global Sum to fund this service and facilitate training.
Contributed to backfill funding for existing pharmacists to undertake Independent Prescribing training.
Timely and accurate communication is key to effective member support. We routinely communicate with members through various channels to keep them informed about the latest developments in community pharmacy, as well as issues within the wider healthcare and political landscape.
We strive to be professional, reliable, and proactive, achieving this through prompt and accurate communication to support our members' pharmacies and communities. Our communication methods include:
Redesigned weekly newsletter (with an improved engagement rate, averaging a 60% open rate)
Video news roundup
User-friendly website
Website articles
Direct contractor mailings
Surveys
Dedicated enquiry and pharmacy services mailboxes and phone lines, providing rapid responses to urgent member queries
"Ask Me Anything" live online engagement events
Social media channels
In-person contractor engagement evenings held throughout the year
Our website’s primary function is to inform and support. Redesigned within the past year, it aims to provide a more user-friendly experience. Anyone can access the website and explore a broad range of topics, including:
Community Pharmacy NHS services
The courier service, which ensures monthly prescription bags are collected from every pharmacy in Scotland and delivered to NSS for payment
Scottish Government circulars related to community pharmacy
CPS responses to professional consultations
Updated drug tariff and reimbursement information
Through these initiatives we have ensured that critical support has been provided to our members through times of enormous stress and rapid changes in practice. The support has been driven by the dedication of the entire team at Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) and the resource investment made by the CPS Board. We are committed to providing a first-class support service to our members so the community pharmacy sector in Scotland can continue to thrive and be at the forefront of NHS service delivery.
This week’s MCR Ready Reckoner has been updated and is now available to download or you can view it via the App.
We can now confirm that Pharmacy Technicians will be included under the updated definition of ‘regulated roles’ and will therefore require PVG Scheme membership from 1st April 2025.
Yesterday (14 May 2025), Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) welcomed members to the first Council session of the 2025 - 2028 term.
Your next courier collection is scheduled for Thursday, May 22nd, 2025. We have produced the following guidelines for your prescription bag submissions.
The First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, announced this week the Programme for Government for 2025/26. He stated that "this programme is focused on delivery and hope. Delivery in response to the challenges we know people are facing in their everyday lives.
This Circular advises community pharmacy contractors that the four UK-wide Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for Estradot® (estradiol) transdermal patches, a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) product, due to expire on 2 May 2025 have been extended.
The current Public Health Scotland poster campaign topic is Lyme Disease. The campaign aims to increase awareness of Lyme disease; how it is transmitted (via ticks) and vital signs and symptoms to look out for. Posters should be displayed within your pharmacy.
This article includes guidance around the process of submitting claims for the generic version of Varenicline. This applies to dispensing against prescriptions and the use of the newly re-launched PGD.
As a part of our work with the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland, we regularly raise lines of concern and work to secure adjusted prices for these.
Your next courier collection is scheduled for Thursday, May 8th, 2025. We have produced the following guidelines for your prescription bag submissions.
The NHS circular PCA(P)(2025)08 informs NHS Boards and community pharmacy contractors of new arrangements in place for the procurement and reimbursement of Paxlovid® (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir).
Check out our Policy & PR Pharmacist, Sarah Scott, speaking to BBC Radio Scotland this morning about how people can manage insect bites and associated symptoms and how to access expert support through NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced draft legislation has been laid out, with a view to the legislation coming into force for Hub and Spoke dispensing between different community pharmacy legal entities in October 2025 (The Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025).
The Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) Board has accepted the Scottish Government’s financial offer detailing the initial focus on the reimbursement arrangements within the community pharmacy funding envelope for the financial year 2025/26.
This circular sets out to community pharmacy contractors and Health Boards the details of the reimbursement arrangements as part of the community pharmacy funding settlement for 2025/26.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is consulting on proposals to increase registration fees for Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, and Pharmacy premises over a two year period.
Due to ongoing discussions with PHS the final round of Adjusted Prices for April are likely to be agreed and published on Thursday 1st May 2025. This will result in the May Part 7 file being agreed and published slightly later than the 1st of May.
The CPS 2025 Election has now concluded. We’d like to thank everyone who got involved. We have some new faces and some familiar ones. We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome our new CPS Board for 2025 - 2028.
This week’s MCR Ready Reckoner has been updated and is now available to download or you can view it via the App.
Community Pharmacy Scotland was pleased to meet with Dame Jackie Baillie MSP on Tuesday at The Scottish Parliament to discuss the vital role of community pharmacy in Scotland's healthcare system.
Our colleagues at NSS have asked us to pass on the following message:
NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) are undertaking a tech refresh of the Patient Registration Service (PRS) to ensure continued support. As part of this process, NSS will need to schedule a PRS system downtime.
Here is a round-up of all the important news this week, including the latest events, webinars and Independent Prescribing news within Community Pharmacy for the 24th April 2025.
Our colleagues at Public Health Scotland (PHS) have asked us to share the following update regarding the COVID-19 spring vaccine poster for people with a weakened immune system.
Here is a round-up of all the important news this week, including the latest events, webinars and Independent Prescribing news within Community Pharmacy for the 17th April 2025.
This week The Scotsman newspaper revealed that Scotland is on course for the highest number of annual flu deaths in almost half a century after more than than 350,000 fewer vaccines were given this winter.
Development of a new CPS strategy is well underway, with a final draft soon to be sent to the CPS Board for review.
Robert Gordon University (RGU) have developed a qualification aimed at post-registration pharmacy technicians across the UK entitled: BSc (Hons) Clinical Practice for Pharmacy Technicians.
You will play a key part in leading the pharmacy team, working across the healthcare area and dispensary, to meet patients’ needs. Your focus each day will be to look after your team, deliver a great service to our patients, through managing the workload and people to deliver on the operational requirements of the position.

Digital Communications Assistant
The Chief Medical Officer has asked us to share the following advice with the network: Community pharmacists should not supply antiviral medicines in primary care on presentation of a GP10 prescription form.