Class 3 recall - Alfad 0.25 Microgram Capsules

Further to Drug Alert EL (20)A/46 issued on 29 September 2020 Theramex Ireland Ltd T/A Theramex HQ UK Ltd has informed us of an issue related to error in the decommissioning of a further batch as listed above. Upon decommissioning at the pharmacy and when scanning the serialised 2D code, the status of packs may report as ‘EXPORT’. Although there is no risk to product quality, any remaining stock should be quarantined and returnedThe affected products' details are as follows:

Please note that Alliance do not stock the above products therefore we are not accepting returns on this recall.

For stock control enquiries please contact Theramex HQ UK Ltd Customer Services Team on 020 3962 5532.

For medical information enquiries please contact Theramex HQ UK Ltd Medical Information Department on 033 3009 6795.

Recipients of this Drug Alert should bring it to the attention of relevant contacts.

Alliance Healthcare to Reduce Single-Use Plastic by 60% in Three Years

Alliance Healthcare in the UK has announced its promise to reduce single-use secondary plastic within the business by 60% within three years, as part of its “Getting drastic with plastic” campaign. The plastics saving initiatives have been live within the business since 2019 and even the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have not stopped progress.

Alliance Healthcare UK recently started to roll out new reusable tote bins to replace plastic bags and cardboard packaging to its Health and Beauty customers, as part of the initial initiatives to reduce plastic. Julian Mount, Managing Director said: “We recognise that as an industry leader we must pioneer the way in reducing our impact on the environment. Our three year plan will entail an ambitious 35% reduction of single-use plastic secondary packaging by September 2021.”

The work being carried out across the entire workforce includes: removal of invoice bags, switching to paper bubble wrap and investment in reusable totes.

Jon Cornforth, Environment, Health and Safety Manager says: “Every year, over 2 million units of single-use plastic bags and cardboard boxes will be removed from our operations, considerably lessening Alliance Healthcare’s carbon footprint.”

To date, Alliance Healthcare UK has already saved over 39 tonnes and by the close of fiscal-year 2021 will have saved 131 tonnes. The aim is to have reduced the overall use of single-use secondary plastic by an impressive 60% by September 2022.

Alliance Healthcare UK team members will mark the launch of the “Getting drastic with plastic” campaign with installations at each of its 14 Service Centre sites across the UK, where colleagues can learn about the promise and get involved with the local initiatives whilst also considering their own day to day behaviours that may impact the environment and making a commitment to the planet. The installation will be produced from completely plant-based materials to go along with the ecological theme of the action.

COMPANY LED - CLASS 2 RECALL Class type: Company Led

Precautionary recall following mould being identified in a few jars of each batch.

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

Recipients of this Drug Alert should bring it to the attention of relevant contacts.

Company Led Drug Alert Optiray 300mg & 350mg I-Ml Solution For Injection Class type: Company Led

Guerbet Laboratories Limited is recalling the above batches of products as a precautionary measure due to reports received from healthcare professionals on the difficulties in attaching the Luer lock adapter to the Luer tip of the pre-filled syringe and tubing catheter. In some cases this has resulted in leakages of contrast media during use.

The affected products' details are as follows:

Alliance do not stock these products and therefore we are not accepting stock returns.

For medical information and stock enquiries, please contact Guertbet Laboratories Limited on Tel: 01217338542

E-mail (medical enquiries): uk.sales@guerbet.com and Krupa.mehta@guerbet.com

Email (stock enquiries): uk.sales@guerbet.com

Recipients of this Drug Alert should bring it to the attention of relevant contacts.

Alphega Pharmacy Launch Patient App with Healthera

Alphega Pharmacy has launched a new app, developed in conjunction with Healthera for its network of over 1,000 pharmacy members. The patient-facing app, which is available to download to any mobile device, is designed with the patient in mind, as more and more people turn to digital solutions to fulfil their prescriptions and other healthcare service requirements.

The Alphega Pharmacy app uses the UK’s market leading technology platform for patients and pharmacies. The app offers a seamless digital patient experience, enabling Alphega Pharmacy members to compete with the ever growing list of competitors who offer a digital service for prescription ordering.

The impact of COVID-19 has changed shopper habits with more and more people now using digital channels to shop online or engage with their healthcare services. Shoppers have made on average 51% fewer trips to the high street post-lockdown than they made in the weeks pre-lockdown*. All four big online pharmacy chains (Boots, Well, Echo, Pharmacy2U), have seen significant increases in electronic prescription service (EPS) items claimed in the period of March to May 2020**.

The app provides the Alphega Pharmacy member with a turn-key solution to support them in the ever changing landscape of independent pharmacy and the members also receive preferred rates because they are part of the Alphega Pharmacy network.

The key features of the app include:

• Repeat Prescription Ordering – immediate access to over 8,000 GP surgeries (IM1 integration, NHS Email and Fax) for patient initiated ordering.

• NHS Email ordering - available for patients in Wales or Scotland, or without an NHS Linkage Key.

• Pharmacy chat – speak directly with customers through your online portal built into the app.

• Service booking – patients are able to view the NHS and Private Services offered by the pharmacy and book appointments.

• Broadcasting – send notifications / messages to all customers who use the app.

Other features include: online payments, ‘Carer’ mode allowing family members to manage medicines for their relatives, prescription tracking, real time patient messaging and co-branding opportunities to help re-inforce loyalty.

Raj Nutan, Head of Alphega Pharmacy UK said: “This is a great opportunity for our members to offer a first class digital experience to their patients.

The app provides a leading digital customer service offering to really drive retention, cultivate loyalty and grow additional revenue. Healthera are market leaders in this field and were an obvious choice for us to work with in developing the Alphega Pharmacy App. We are very excited to see how the app can really support our members and their patients.”

Quintus Liu, Chairman and CEO of Healthera said: “We are very happy to be working with Alphega Pharmacy as partners on this project. It’s great to see that Alphega Pharmacy realise the huge benefits of offering the patient app to their members, therefore driving the digital agenda in the field of independent pharmacy. As a business we have seen how the app can not only help support pharmacies drive revenue through dispensing volume growth, but also significant time savings in pharmacy of an average of around 105.5 hours per year via Rx orders going through the app rather than on the phone, emails or tokens***”

To find out more about the patient app, or about how Alphega Pharmacy can help Independent Pharmacy businesses call: 0203 044 8969 or email: membersupport@alphega-pharmacy.co.uk 

Field Safety Notice Activheal® Hydrogel 8g

AMS has identified that due to a tube quality issue that was determined during the manufacturing process, the sterility of a small number of the Affected Tubes may have been compromised. Investigations have determined a potential root cause and AMS are confident that the quality issue only affects the Affected Tubes and is not present in other batches of the ACTIVHEAL® Hydrogel product

The affected products' details are as follows:

This is an NWOS only recall and Alliance will not be accepting stock returns. Please contact Advanced Medical Solutions for further information

For further information regarding this Field Safety Notice Please contact Teresa Starkey at Advanced Medical Solutions. Email: Teresa.starkey@admedsol.com Tel: +441606 545617

Recipients of this Drug Alert should bring it to the attention of relevant contacts.

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

Class 2 Recall on Epilim 500mg Ec Tabs

Sanofi is recalling the above batches of product as a precautionary measure due to out of specification results for disintegration test during routine stability testing.

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

Class 3 Recall on Metoprolol 50 Mg Tablets

Accord Healthcare Ltd has informed us of an issue related to decommissioning of the above batches. Upon decommissioning at the pharmacy, there have been reports stating that when scanning the serialised 2D code, the status of packs may report as ‘EXPORT.' Although there is no risk to product quality, any remaining stock should be quarantined and returned.

Alliance Healthcare Marks National Customer Service Week

Alliance Healthcare marks National Customer Service Week with a new membership at the Institute of Customer Service as it commenced a week-long internal engagement event for its 5,500 colleagues.

Commencing on Monday 05 October and through the week, Alliance Healthcare has held a number of internal educational activities in parallel to the daily themes set out by the National Institute of Customer Service, to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays in successful business practice and the growth of the UK economy. Daily themes this year include: customer insight, capability and skills, recognition, leadership, and trust, ethics and sustainability.

Through the week, the Customer Service Team enjoyed a series of games and prizes, both at the National Call Centre in South Normanton, and across its virtual office. The UK‟s leading pharmaceutical wholesaler kicked off its week-long event with a video broadcast from Julian Mount, Managing Director, Alliance Healthcare, who said: “Customer service is so important to everything we are doing at Alliance Healthcare, as demonstrated by our devoted customer service through the Covid-19 pandemic. We stood shoulder to shoulder with community pharmacy and my team remained available on the phones, email and through our customer Portal (myahportal) and its online ChatBot; whenever required we were there to support the NHS and our customers during these difficult times, and demonstrated the best in class customer service when it mattered.”

In recognition of the value of customer service, Alliance Healthcare is now a member of the Institute of Customer Service - an organisation that exists to improve business performance by improving the customer experience. Vicki Martin, Head of Customer Service, Alliance Healthcare said: “We are so proud of our membership that our Customer Service Advisors now have new e-signatures with the institute's logo, highlighting its strapline: „Service with Respect.‟ This is yet another great step in our continued commitment to develop our customer service and support community pharmacy.”

As part of its daily communications, colleagues enjoyed a series of “catch up with a colleague over a cuppa” features, learning about the different roles and personnel from across the Customer Service team. In recognition of Thursday‟s theme – leadership, the Customer Service Management Teams took part in a “back to the floor”, completing tasks that would normally be carried out by their colleagues. On Friday 09 October, John Pignone, Sales Director gave his personal thanks and appreciation to the team for all its support to community pharmacy and the NHS.

Fikret Ozer, Head of Supply Chain, Astellas

“As our sole agency partner, AHDL play an important role in delivering the most fundamental corporate objective of Astellas, which is ensuring the safe and continuous supply of our life-saving medicines to the UK patients. The CS organisation is at the forefront of delivering this objective as they are the interface between our customers and us. The ongoing support and collaboration between AHDL CS teams and Astellas leads to not only a much more efficient and accurate delivery of the services provided, but also a much more customer-centric approach in capturing and handling the requirements of our customers. This produces better, quicker and more efficient outcomes for those collective customers and ultimately serves the needs of the patients."

Colin Frost, Head of UK Trade, Pfizer

“One of the fundamental factors, which has contributed to both the longevity and success of DTP, is the close working relationship between the Pfizer Customer Contact Centre and the Alliance Healthcare Customer Service team. The role of the teams are clearly defined, integrated and highly collaborative, which exemplifies the Pfizer – Alliance partnership and ensures an exemplary customer service to our shared healthcare customers and patients.”

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

Alliance Healthcare and Alphega Pharmacy are proud to congratulate this year's winner, Maddyson Chan, a fourth year student currently studying Pharmacy at Cardiff University. She successfully pitched her idea to launch a new private service that community pharmacy could implement to create a new revenue stream.

The BPSA (British Pharmaceutical Students' Association) is an organisation who work 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 and Alphega Pharmacy, to deliver such fantastic opportunities.

The final was held virtually on Tuesday 22nd September, 2020, with four students competing via Zoom, due to current Covid-19 restrictions and saw the culmination of three rounds of presentations over the past 11 months from over 50 students.

Despite the lack of face-to-face contact, the four finalists performed incredibly well and a great rapport was built with the judging panel. The panel consisted of Mike Smith, Non-executive advisor Alliance Healthcare, Sue Dobson, Alphega Pharmacy Business Mentor, and Vinay Patel, Alphega Pharmacy Services and Contract Manager. The event was coordinated by Bella Shah, a fourth year Pharmacy student at Cardiff University and a member of the BPSA Executive Team, and Lorna Kimberley, Senior MarComms Manager at Alliance Healthcare.

Mike Smith, Non-executive advisor Alliance Healthcare UK, says: "As usual the presentations were of the highest quality. They all demonstrated a "thinking out of the box" approach and applied digital technology. The future of our profession is safe in the hands of these very motivated young students."

Maddyson Chan, winner of this year's event, comments: "I am so grateful for the opportunity to take part in the competition. Hearing feedback from peers who had previously competed inspired me to give it a go, and I would encourage everyone else to try it too!"

Alliance Healthcare has supported the BPSA for over ten years, and senior members from the BPSA committee visited the Alliance Healthcare Support Office in Chessington in January. They spent time with Julian Mount, Managing Director, and his team, including Neil Scobie, Head of Member Offer and Engagement Alphega Pharmacy. The students also enjoyed a tour of the local Alliance Healthcare Chessington Service Centre.

Alliance Healthcare will continue sponsoring, and working in partnership with the BPSA during 2021 and look forward to seeing the positive difference our young pharmacists make in this challenging world.