FIELD SAFETY NOTICE - AQUACEL AG+ EXTRA 20X30CM(1X5PK)

ConvaTec are voluntarily initiating a field action for the below-stated product because a complaint has been received for an open seam on the primary packaging and also showing the dressing partially stuck within the seal. This has therefore breached the sterile barrier and made the product unable to be used. Using a non-sterile device on a patient may potentially expose the patient to infectious agents

MHRA drug alert link: N/A   

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

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

Our August 2021 Bank Holiday Opening Hours

A reminder to our customers that our August 2021 Bank Holiday opening hours can be found by clicking here.

Lupin Healthcare – Dual AAH Agreement

As of 24 August 2021, Alliance Healthcare UK became one of the chosen wholesalers to supply Lupin Healthcare’s new product Luforbec (Beclometasone 100mcg/Formoterol 6mcg inhaler CFC free) to all pharmacies and dispensing doctors in the United Kingdom.

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

CLASS 2 RECALL - METFORMIN SF SUS 500MG/5ML

Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Limited is recalling all unexpired stock of the below product from pharmacies and wholesalers as a precautionary measure due to the identification level of an impurity above the acceptable limit. Following routine monitoring, the impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) which has genotoxic and carcinogenic potential, has been observed at a level above the acceptable limit

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-rosemont-pharmaceuticals-limited-metformin-hydrochloride-500mg-slash-5ml-oral-solution-pl-00427-slash-0139-el-21-a-slash-20?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=c8cb9f63-892e-4ac7-826d-54d8b20db482&utm_content=immediately  

Further Information

For stock control enquiries please contact: Customerservices@rosemontpharma.com

For medical information enquiries please contact: pharmacovigilance@rosemontpharma.com

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

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

Update: COVID absence and driver shortage

Firstly, thank you for your patience while we at Alliance Healthcare have continued to put measures in place to mitigate issues that are affecting industries across the country. We are all very grateful for your understanding while we continue to progress with our improvements to service each day.

Absence levels across our network are continuing to decrease as our exemption from Test and Trace isolation has taken effect. We are obviously still dealing with some COVID absence but we are happy to say that our focus and dedication has meant that we have continued with twice daily deliveries across the UK.

Our national recruitment campaign is continuing and we are seeing good numbers of applicants each week. New starters are learning the ropes and our most experienced drivers are helping with training and coaching.

As always, our main aim is to provide a stable service to you, our customers and, in turn, patients across the UK. This is at the heart of everything we do. Thank you again for your patience and understanding during this time.

We will continue to keep you updated on the situation as it evolves.

Calling Pharmacy England Contractors: Claim Your COVID-19 Costs Now!

With just five days to go, Alliance Healthcare is urging pharmacy contractors in England to claim for all extra COVID-19 costs they have incurred during the pandemic. The deadline is 23:59 on Sunday 15th August.

Ashley Kilgas, Sales Director at Alliance Healthcare said: “Alliance Healthcare urges all pharmacy contractors to, as a matter of urgency, ensure they apply to claim back extra COVID-19 costs they incurred during the pandemic. It is imperative all contractors carry out this exercise and submit their claim before the deadline. There is a range of support and resources on the PSNC website to aid the claims made, please visit: https://psnc.org.uk/the-healthcare-landscape/covid19/funding-during-the-pandemic/ 

Ian Barnes, Head of Field Operations at Alphega Pharmacy UK said: “The Alphega Pharmacy team has over the last few weeks been visiting and calling its members to offer support in the COVID-19 extra costs claiming process. What is apparent to our teams is that some pharmacies have not yet started looking at their claim submissions and in some cases some members are struggling to ascertain what their costs are. The Alphega Pharmacy Business Mentor team are out in the field to support members in this area – and my dedicated field team of 10 people are fully committed to help. All Alphega Pharmacy members that need any support in this subject so please contact: membersupport@alphega-pharmacy.co.uk

CLASS 2 RECALL - VARIOUS SUPPLIER & PRODUCTS

Specific batches of the below products are recalled by the Marketing Authorisation Holders and parallel distributor companies as a precautionary measure due to contamination with an impurity called 5-(4’- (azidomethyl)-[1,1’-biphenyl]-2yl)-1H-tetrazole, which has mutagenic potential. These batches are being recalled as the level of contamination is above the acceptable limit

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-various-marketing-authorisation-holders-and-parallel-distributor-companies-irbesartan-containing-products-el-21-a-slash-19?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=7fde90cb-19d4-417d-888c-d7769dcf3f3f&utm_content=immediately   

Please can you ensure that your stores quarantine the product listed below.

Aventis Pharma Limited T/A Sanofi

Zentiva

Parallel Distributors

Doncaster Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd

MPT Pharma Limited

PCO Manufacturing Ltd

Gowrie Laxmico Ltd T/A B&S Healthcare

Further Information

Sanofi

For stock control enquiries, please contact GB-CustomerServices@sanofi.com or 0800 854 430

For more information or medical information queries, please contact uk-medicalinformation@sanofi.com

or 0800 035 25 25

Doncaster Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd

For more information or medical information queries, please contact Richard Gore at 01302 554805 (or

07736 297267 out of hours) or richard.gore@doncaster-pharm.com

For supply queries, please contact Rebecca Platts at 01302 552961 (Mon-Fri 8am-4pm) or

rebecca.platts@doncaster-pharm.com

MPT Pharma Limited

For more information or medical information queries, please contact qa@cstpharma.co.uk or tel 01477

549310

For supply queries, please contact: qa@cstpharma.co.uk or tel 01477 549310

EL (21)A/19 Page 4 of 4

PCO Manufacturing Ltd

For more information or medical information queries, please contact Niamh Clarke at nclarke@pco.ie

For supply queries, please contact Jason Ogle at jogle@nippharma.co.uk

Gowrie Laxmico Ltd T/A B&S Healthcare

For more information or medical information queries, please contact medinfo@bnsheathcare.com

For supply queries, please contact customerservice@bnshealthcare.com

Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd

For more information or medical information queries, please contact 0800 0902408 or

UKmedinfo@zentiva.com

For supply queries, please contact 0844 8793188 or gfd-customerservices@zentiva.com. Please contact

claims@zentiva.com to arrange return and replacement of affected packs in your possession.

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

FIELD SAFETY NOTICE - ACCU-CHEK AVIVA & ACCU-CHEK PERFORMA

Roche Diabetes Care has received complaints from one hospital in the United States alleging unexpected results (such as positively biased, or falsely too high, results) when using test strip vials which have opened while still in a sealed carton. The Roche investigation showed that, in very rare circumstances, it is possible that a vial can open in a sealed carton while in transit. This could happen to Accu-Chek Aviva / Accu-Chek Performa test strips, when they are shipped at elevated temperature ( ≥45°C or 113°F) AND when the carton is dropped or handled roughly during the transit and distribution process. It is only when these two conditions occur in combination that the failure mode has been observed

MHRA drug alert link: N/A  

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

If you have any affected product, please dispose of the test strips immediately.

Roche Diabetes Care will provide test strip replacements to users who have purchased vials that were open within the sealed carton.

To obtain replacement from Roche Diabetes Care, please call Roche Diabetes Care Customer Careline at UK: 0800 701 000* or Ireland: 1 800 709 600*

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

August 2021 Bank Holiday Opening Hours now available

To help keep our customers informed of changes to our service, we have published our August 2021 Bank Holiday opening hours. 

Click here

We are paperless! Customer monthly statements available via myahportal

As part of our on-going commitment to reduce our impact on the environment as well as helping you self-serve, this is our final reminder to inform customers that Monthly Statements are available to access on myahportal.co.uk and we will no longer send customersprinted copies from Thursday 5 August (July statement).

Benefits to online statements:

1. Instant access to documents – no need to wait for the statement to arrive by post and you can also get access to a rolling 12 months’ of statements, which can be downloaded and stored on your local device
2. Quick, safe and secure – peace of mind that statements will only be accessible by authorised persons
3. Environmental impact – by reducing the need to print an average of four pages of paper per customer, we’ll save approximately 720,000 sheets of paper – that’s more than 50 trees a year, based on current statistics
4. Fuel Savings - help us and the Royal Mail reduce fuel consumption by removing approximately 180,000 statement delivered per year, thus reducing our carbon footprint - a major contributor to global climate change

The benefits don’t stop there! The portal provides you easy access to:

• Ordering products with immediate access to AH Direct
• Ordering all your surgical appliances fromNWOS
• Reporting a missing product with instant access to E-Missings
• Creating a returns note with access to ‘Returns’
• View and access statements, invoices and credit notes through Your Docs (where applicable)

Here to Help

We would now like to encourage all customers to view their monthly statements on myahportal.co.uk and would be happy to support with any queries. If you experience any difficulties and require support please contact the Customer Portal Team on 0330 100 0448 – option 8 or email CustomerPortal@alliance-healthcare.co.uk with ‘Online Monthly Statements’ in the title of your email.

Thank you in advance for your support and co-operation with our move to online monthly statements.