CLASS 2 RECALL - BRICANYL AMP 0.5MG/1ML

AstraZeneca UK Limited is recalling the below batch of Bricanyl 0.5mg/ml solution for injection or infusion as a precautionary measure due to out of specification results for a routinely tested known impurity during stability testing

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-astrazeneca-uk-limited-bricanyl-injection-0-dot-5-mg-slash-ml-solution-for-injection-or-infusion-pl-17901-slash-0112-el-21-a-slash-12?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=42605459-ef94-4b7e-bb39-33e83dbc6d74&utm_content=immediately   

Please note that Alliance Healthcare do not stock and we are therefore not accepting stock returns.

For more information or medical information queries please contact

Tel: +44 (0) 0800 783 0033

Email: medical.informationuk@astrazeneca.com

For supply queries, please contact

Tel: +44 (0) 800 783 0033 (option 1)

Email: supply.chain@astrazeneca.com.

FIELD SAFETY NOTICE - HISTOACRYL ADH TISSUE BLU

: B. Braun have detected new additional batches where the adhesive could not polymerize completely after its application. The tested products did not show the normal curing behaviour, providing lower adhesive forces than expected.

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.

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

Late May 2021 Bank Holiday Opening Hours now available

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

Click here

Alliance Healthcare Supports Team Members’ Mental Wellbeing by Launching Mental Health First Aiders

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Alliance Healthcare has introduced its first cohort of employee mental health first aiders.

The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England accredited training will help to identify people who may require help and signpost them to appropriate support services.

The first group of 24 took part in a series of virtual training programmes, which covered the issues that impact and relate to people’s mental health. These included active listening, starting a conversation about poor mental health, offering reassurance and sign posting to appropriate professional help.

Vicki Wilder, Senior HR Business Partner, who is leading on the training programme said: “We have a duty of care to support our workforce and we are committed to providing appropriate help for poor mental health, it’s equally as important as physical health. We also recognise that the pandemic has taken its toll on people, but with the introduction of mental health first aiders colleagues will have an additional avenue to be able to reach out for support.”
 

Alliance Healthcare will continue its mental health first aider training and by the end of 2021 every employee will have access to a trained mental health first aider.

Approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year[1].

One in six people will also report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England[2].

[1] Source: Mind, June 2020

[2] Source: Mind, June 2020

We’re going 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, we would like to inform customers that Monthly Statements are available to access on myahportal and we will shortly stop sending customers printed copies.

From the July statement onwards, these will be online only via myahportal.co.uk.  From 5 August your monthly statements will no longer be posted.

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.

Class 4 Drug Caution in use - SYONELL 250MG & 500MG GASTRO-RESISTANT TABLETS

: Lupin Healthcare (UK) Limited has informed us of a discrepancy with the product packaging for several batches of Syonell 250mg Gastro-Resistant Tablets and Syonell 500mg Gastro-Resistant Tablets. This discrepancy relates to the incorrect amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (valproate semisodium) printed on the outer packaging

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-4-medicines-defect-information-syonell-250mg-gastro-resistant-tablets-pl-35507-slash-0191-syonell-500mg-gastro-resistant-tablets-pl-35507-slash-0192-el-21-a-slash-11?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=58b8fb90-a905-45be-8b0f-5c608a23c4ba&utm_content=immediately

This may have been supplied by AHDL. Unfortunately we are not providing specific batch information you will  be required to follow the instructions as per the drug alert.

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

For more information or medical information queries, please contact: +44 (0) 1565 751 378 Option 1 or Pharmacovigilance Department at EU-PV@lupin.com

For stock control queries, please contact: 44 (0) 1565 751 378 Option 2 or information@lupin.com

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

Early May 2021 Bank Holiday Opening Hours now available

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

Click here

Alliance Healthcare and Alphega Pharmacy Announce Winner of the BPSA Business and Enterprise Competition

Alliance Healthcare and Alphega Pharmacy Announce Winner of the BPSA Business and Enterprise Competition

Abeer Aamir, a first year student currently studying Pharmacy at the University of Brighton, is the winner of the BPSA’s Business and Enterprise competition, sponsored by Alliance Healthcare and Alphega Pharmacy.

Abeer receives the prize of a £500 gift voucher after she successfully pitched a presentation highlighting how Alphega Pharmacy is the key to the future development of Independent Community Pharmacy. She also came up with not one, but three new ideas that could enhance the current Alphega Pharmacy B2C app.

The BPSA (British Pharmaceutical Students' Association) is an organisation that works to enhance the experience of its members by inspiring them to invest in their development, seize opportunities and become advocates for the profession. This competition is one example of that. It allows students to be innovative and explore the business aspect of pharmacy, whilst building confidence and winning prizes. The BPSA teams up with sponsors, such as Alliance Healthcare to deliver such fantastic opportunities.

The final was held virtually on Tuesday 30 March, 2021, with three out of ten students who made it through to the final round competing via Zoom, due to current Covid-19 restrictions.

Abeer Aamir, winner of this year's event, says: "I am incredibly appreciative for the opportunity I was given to compete in the Business and Enterprise competition. The competition allowed me to look at pharmacy practice in a new light and specifically focus on how we as pharmacists must adapt to the ever-changing healthcare landscape, especially so in this new online based era. As we move into a post-COVID world, I believe it is crucial for all pharmacy students to take a look at how the practice will be shifting in the next few years with the rise of digital care, and learn how to adjust without compromising patient-focused care.

“Competing in this competition also gave me the chance to be creative by creating a cohesive and interesting presentation marketing the Alphega app, as well as coming up with innovative ideas to further the development of the app and the future development of independent community pharmacies on the spot during the judge questioning round. I was also able to gain a deeper understanding about different business standards of practice, as well as appreciate the innovative concepts and designs that must be made by independent pharmacy owners to remain competitive against larger chain pharmacies. Thank you again to the BPSA, Alphega Pharmacy, and Alliance Healthcare for organizing this competition!”

The three finalists performed incredibly well and a great rapport was built with the judging panel. The panel consisted of Mike Smith, Non-executive advisor at Alliance Healthcare, Sue Dobson, Alphega Pharmacy Business Mentor, Vinay Patel, Alphega Pharmacy Services and Contract Pharmacist, plus Rob Darracott, Editor at P3pharmacy magazine who joined as a special guest judge. The event was coordinated by Trisha Dogra, a pre-registration pharmacist who graduated from Keele University and is the Competitions Coordinator of the BPSA Executive Team, plus Karen Lam and Lorna Kimberley, both from the Marketing and Communications Team at Alliance Healthcare.

Mike Smith, Non-executive advisor Alliance Healthcare UK, says: "The entries were again of the highest quality this year. The three shortlisted finalists gave excellent presentations with some really innovative and radical ideas. They demonstrated a clear understanding of the benefits of Alphega Pharmacy membership and how this will be key to the future development of independent pharmacy. These young students are the future of our profession and I have no doubt it will be continue to flourish in such safe hands. I am so proud of them all. They were all winners for me and the judging was very close.”

Rob Darracott, Editor at P3pharmacy magazine also added: “It’s never easy presenting at the best of times, but all the finalists did a great job, not only in identifying the benefits of Alphega to independent community pharmacy, but in presenting their ideas virtually too. It’s especially nice hearing innovative ideas and suggestions from those at the start of their careers in the profession, including one at the very start, our impressive winner and first year pharmacy student, Abeer.” 

For over a decade, Alliance Healthcare has supported the BPSA and looks forward to seeing the positive difference our young pharmacists make in this challenging world.

Abeer Aamir, BPSA, Business and Enterprise Winner

Alliance Healthcare is proudly celebrating Ramadan

Today marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan which is celebrated by Muslims all over the UK.

At Alliance Healthcare, we have a workforce that is diverse and rich in culture, like our customer base and we are proud to mark this special event.

Our Leigh Service Centre Manager, Zak Patel, has been sharing what Ramadan means to him:

“Like many Muslims, during the holy month of Ramadan I will be enjoying fasting from dawn to dusk. Ramadan is a time of self-reflection, supporting those less fortunate and it brings me closer to my religion. Ramadan also means kindness, appreciation, love, generosity and patience which makes me more appreciative of everything that I am blessed with and spurs me to support those in my community whom are struggling, especially during these COVID times.”

Matt Addison, Operations Director, says: “Across our operations network and our wider business, we have team members with many different religions and beliefs. Recognising and celebrating the cultural and religious events that are important to our people creates a welcoming and equitable workplace in which people can be their authentic selves.”

On behalf of all of us at Alliance Healthcare, Ramadan Mubarak!

Company Led - Class 2 Recall (Customer Level) SMA Wysoy Soya Infant Formula 800g

The recall of SMA Wysoy is a food safety recall due to potential presence of foreign bodies (pieces of plastic scoops). Nestlé has undertaken it on a voluntary basis.

The affected products' details are as follows:

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