Lateral Flow Tests – Update for Pharmacies

Thank you for your efforts and patience

We recognise the challenging situation many pharmacy teams are facing to support the UK in the fight against COVID-19. Your efforts are truly appreciated, and we thank you for your patience during this period.

Demand for lateral flow devices continues to be high, however UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is supplying the Pharmacy Collect channel daily and around 10 million lateral flow tests are currently delivered to community pharmacies by Alliance Healthcare weekly.

Latest update

The UKHSA is pleased to confirm that from 8 January, deliveries of lateral flow devices into Alliance Healthcare now take place on Saturdays in addition to weekdays. This enables Alliance Healthcare to begin to process orders ahead of Monday deliveries, increasing the continuity of supply into pharmacy.

On Monday 10th January, Alliance Healthcare distributed the highest number of lateral flow tests so far in one day - 3.6 million collectively across the UK.

Please continue to visit the myahportal for the latest updates

We will continue to publish news from the UKHSA regarding lateral flow kit distribution on our myahportal. Please regularly visit the log in page, which will be refreshed daily. Pip cascade remains in place - where an alternative pip code is transmitted, this will automatically refer the order to whichever code is in stock at the time. 

Our Customer Service are here to support should you be experiencing any issues. 

Alliance Healthcare UK to enter into a wholesale agreement with Gedeon Richter January 2022

We are pleased to announce that, as of 14 January 2022, Alliance Healthcare UK will become one of the chosen wholesalers to supply EVRA TRANSDERMAL PATCH 6MG to all pharmacies, hospitals and dispensing doctors in the UK. This line has been acquired by Gedeon Richter from Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Alliance Healthcare UK: solus agreement with MSD UK and Organon UK

Following on from previous announcements confirming that, as of 1st February 2022, Alliance Healthcare UK will become with only wholesaler to supply both the MSD and Organon product portfolio to all pharmacies, hospitals and dispensing doctors in Great Britain and Norther Ireland, we can confirm that eligible lines in these two portfolios will have an applied discount of 7%.

If you have any queries, please speak to your Alliance Healthcare Account Manager.

Our Health & Beauty team launch the improved H&B Portal including new Knowledge Zone feature

This exciting new service expands the functionality of the portal, providing pharmacies with a range of content to help them grow and deliver a first-class customer experience. 

The Knowledge Zone was developed to provide Healthcare Professional’s with educational materials including ailment driven knowledge, links to training, new product developments and category insights. It provides guidance based on practical knowledge, empowering Healthcare Professionals to understand, identify and manage the most common conditions seen daily in pharmacies, including product recommendations for treatment.

Sachiv Patel, Category Director, is extremely proud of the new feature, saying: “The Knowledge Zone is a fantastic development on the Health & Beauty portal, increasing the support offered to Healthcare Professionals and expanding their knowledge, in order to better serve their customers. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in its creation.” 

The site is now available to all independent and key accounts.

This is another great development on the myahportal and we strive to have many more in the future, improving the functionality for our customers and making their lives easier!

Latest update from PSNC on lateral flow device stock

On 5th January 2022, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) provided this update from the UKHSA on the stock availabililty and distribution of lateral flow device (LFD) test kits:

"The unprecedented public demand for Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits via the Pharmacy Collect service continues.

"The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are continuing to deliver stock to Alliance Healthcare for onward delivery to pharmacies. PSNC has been in regular contact with the UKHSA about the supply issues and we have the following update for pharmacy teams.

"By the end of this week (8th January 2022), the UKHSA will have distributed over 8 million tests to Alliance Healthcare (representing c.1,142,800 individual packs of 7 tests and just over 19,000 cartons). The UKHSA has indicated that Alliance Healthcare are delivering 86% of their orders within 24 hours of the pharmacy order, with almost half of that on the same day.

"For the remainder of January the UKHSA is planning to distribute 10.5 million tests per week (c. 1.5 million individual packs of 7 tests and just over 25,000 cartons) via Alliance Healthcare, replenishing Alliance Healthcare depots as test kits are distributed to pharmacies."

You can read the PSNC's full update, including advice for contractors on ordering LFD kits, on their website.

Company Led Recall - Dermaved Sensitive Cream (Unlicensed Medicine)

Dermaved is recalling the above product from patients due to presence of clobetasol propionate (0.001% w/w). This product is supplied by Dermaved online.

The company’s investigation is on-going. Remaining stock of the above product should be returned to the company directly.

Clobetasol propionate is a strong steroid and it is an active ingredient in Prescription Only Medicines used for the treatment skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Creams containing steroids should be used sparingly and as directed by the prescriber.

Although the presence of clobetasol propionate in this product is low, patients are advised to stop using the cream immediately, particularly pregnant and breastfeeding women, babies and young children.

There have been infrequent cases of skin reactions after stopping the use of creams containing steroids. Patients are advised to consult a doctor if their skin worsens within 2 weeks of stopping this cream or if they experience any side-effects from using this product. Suspected side effects should also be reported via the Yellow Card Scheme.

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.alliance-healthcare.co.uk/alliance-healthcare-news-updates?field_category_target_id=161 

Alliance do not stock this product and therefore we are not accepting stock returns.

Company contact for enquiries:

For more information, please contact Dermaved: info@dermaved.com

If you have any questions, then please contact your local Service Centre Customer Services team.

Service Disruption

As we continue to navigate the challenges caused by COVID related absence, there may be some service disruption across the Alliance Healthcare network. We understand the frustration this may cause for our customers and continue to work hard to minimise any impact to our service.

Alliance Healthcare would like to thank all its customers for their understanding at this time.

Class 4 Drug (Caution in use) - Benylin Chesty Coughs Original and Benylin Chesty Coughs Non-Drowsy

McNeil Products Limited have identified an error relating to the stated alcohol content for batches of Benylin Chesty Coughs Original (P) and Benylin Chesty Coughs Non-Drowsy (GSL) whereby the product labels understate the ethanol values. The products comply with the defined specifications, including ethanol content and, other than the incorrect ethanol content, all other label information is correct. However, the amount of ethanol contained within the products is low and hence the related on-pack safety warning, which reads “The small amount of alcohol in this medicine will not have any noticeable effects.”, is correct.

MHRA drug alert link:

https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-4-medicines-defect-information-benylin-chesty-coughs-original-p-and-benylin-chesty-coughs-non-drowsy-gsl-el-21-a-slash-39?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=d42e0844-42e5-46ca-8471-2a82d76c7a4a&utm_content=immediately

This is a caution in use only we are not accepting stock returns.

Further Information:
For medical information queries please contact: McNeil Products Limited on 1344 864042 or by email to crc@its.jnj.com

Introducing Alliance Healthcare's dedicated pharmacy newsletter – Independent Pulse!

Without a doubt, the last 18-24 months have been relentlessly tough and challenging for everyone, not least pharmacy teams and healthcare professionals. Community pharmacy has once again been asked to step-up and support the UK COVID-19 vaccination efforts and the team at Alliance Healthcare are doing everything we can to support their efforts.

Alliance Healthcare is proud to launch Independent Pulse - our dedicated newsletter for community pharmacy, packed full of all the latest news and service information from Alliance Healthcare to support community pharmacy.

This issue provides important information on:

• – Christmas/New Year bank holiday opening hours

• – Lateral flow test kits distribution

• – Marie Evans' appointment as Managing Director

• – Delivery of pre-ordered flu vaccines and preparing for 2022 Flu Season

• – Operational readiness

• – Health & beauty promotional offers

• – A reminder of our COVID-19 vaccination distribution video

• – Our sustainability pledge campaign

• – Plus a festive message to all of our downstream customers

Read our Independent Pulse here or visit our Winter Readiness page.

We hope you enjoy reading and look forward to any feedback you may have.

Lateral flow test distribution – a message on behalf of UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) – 22 December 2021

A UKHSA spokesperson said:

“Despite unprecedented demand, we are continuing to supply millions of rapid lateral flow tests every day.

“We are issuing record numbers of rapid test kits to people’s homes across the country, and our delivery capacity has doubled to 900,000 test kits per day since Saturday 18 December so more people can order tests. Over the weekend of the 18th December over 7 million lateral flow tests were distributed to households ordering online.

“A temporary issue with UKHSA's supply chain has delayed supplies of rapid test kits to Alliance Healthcare and has, in turn, caused some disruption to the supply of these kits to community pharmacies. UKHSA is working with its partners to resolve this and normal service will resume shortly. Community pharmacies can access the latest information via their association or myahportal. Last week saw record numbers of rapid tests distributed by the wholesaler to pharmacies, with over 11 million test kits sent.”

Additional background information:

• – In exceptional demand there may be temporary pauses in ordering or collecting tests, to ensure that distribution can be managed effectively across the system.

• – The UKHSA and Royal Mail announced capacity for home deliveries for COVID-19 testing kits will double to 900,000 a day in response to a week of unprecedented demand.

• – Healthcare workers can access LFDs from the usual routes that are open to the public (home delivery, pharmacy collection, and some community settings).

Order information from Alliance Healthcare

• – You are advised to place orders as normal via your usual ordering systems. If sufficient product is available on the day you place your order, it will be supplied. Orders may take up to three days from order placement to delivery.

• – England only: please use pip code 8943995 to place your order which will automatically defer to which ever product is in stock at the time.

• – You should only order 1 carton per day. Any orders above this quantity will not be supplied. Please continue to order via your normal ordering systems and the myahportal

Posters to support you with patient communications

The UKHSA has created a poster for pharmacies to download, print and display on premises, which you can find here.

Zero tolerance posters are also available from the CRC as well which you can access here.

Message from the Pharmacy Collect team at UKHSA

“We would like to thank all staff at Alliance Healthcare for their ongoing efforts to help distribute test kits on our behalf. We recognise that at times it can be challenging dealing with difficult calls and queries and want to acknowledge the hard work that all staff, such as people working in the warehouse, call centre and drivers, are doing to help the efforts in the fight against COVID. We urge our members to visit the Alliance Healthcare website and myahportal for regular updates on this situation.”