HLP Newsletter - June 2018
UK Health Security Agency sent this bulletin at 14-06-2018 05:01 PM BST
Gul Root
National Lead Pharmacy and Public Health
Health Intelligence Division
Public Health England
Hello and welcome to another issue of the HLP newsletter. This edition focuses on sexual health, the soft drinks industry levy, oral health, showcasing innovative models of delivery and best practice events across the country, recognising an outstanding Health Champion, as well as an events and campaigns calendar for 2018.
We have been through an internal review within Public Health England (PHE) and the pharmacy team is now within the new Health Intelligence Division of the Health Improvement Directorate. We are looking forward to working with the Health Intelligence team to get more of an insight into data and intelligence that can support the pharmacy work programme.
With the support of the HLP Task Group of the Pharmacy and Public Health Forum, we are updating the Level 2 HLP Framework. The aim is to finalise the framework by March 2019.
We are pleased to inform you that PHE will continue to support the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) to hold the HLP registry. This will include pharmacies that have progressed to Level 1 HLP status through the profession-led self-assessment process and those that have been accredited locally. The process for registering locally accredited HLPs will begin in a few weeks’ time.
The RSPH will also work with the Local Government Association to map HLPs to Local Authority level and will continue to carry out a quality assurance (QA) process. This will help to ensure that HLPs continue to deliver health promoting interventions that embody the HLP ethos and culture in line with the underpinning quality criteria and enablers. Funding from PHE for all this work will cease at the end of March 2019.
I am also delighted to inform you that the number of HLPs has grown significantly since our last update. With the implementation of the profession-led self-assessment process and the introduction of NHS England’s quality payment for attainment of Level 1 HLP status, we now have over 9,400 HLPs across the country, which is a great achievement.
I would like to thank and congratulate all pharmacy teams that have engaged and demonstrated their commitment to embodying the HLP ethos and culture, and are making a difference to people’s health locally.
As always, please keep us informed about any innovative delivery models, as well as any challenges you may be experiencing.
You can email us at hlpnewsletter@phe.gov.uk.
John Battersby
Training and Workforce Lead
Health Intelligence Division
Public Health England
Following an internal review the PHE pharmacy team has been brought into the newly created Health Intelligence Division, part of the Health Improvement Directorate. I’m delighted to be picking up management responsibility for the team within the new Division and thought it might be helpful to introduce myself!
Having started life as a GP in Norfolk I followed a slightly unusual career path which involved a four year stint running a primary care programme on the edge of the Sahara before becoming a public health consultant. My first public health roles were as a Director of Public Health in Southern Norfolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) and then Norfolk PCT. My time at Norfolk PCT also involved overseeing primary care commissioning so I spent a lot of time meeting with primary care colleagues and local negotiating committees.
After 6 years as a Director of Public Health, I moved to work at the Eastern Region Public Health Observatory (ERPHO), which was subsequently incorporated into PHE in 2013. I’ve continued to work in health intelligence since then but various projects have allowed me to maintain links to my primary care roots.
Pharmacists, in whichever setting they find themselves in, are in a unique position to influence the health and behaviours of the people they meet on a daily basis. It is really exciting to be getting involved in the work of the Healthy Living Pharmacy Programme and I look forward to meeting many of you in the future.
The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH) releases new, free training module
The FSRH has released a new, free online course on Contraceptive Counselling. This engaging and interactive course has been designed by the FSRH International Affairs Committee to support all healthcare professionals providing contraceptive care.
The course will support healthcare professionals working nationally and internationally to develop:
- Key concepts in contraceptive counselling
- Key skills for effective contraceptive counselling
- Understanding good and bad consultations
- Action planning to improve your contraceptive consultations
You can find the course here. Simply self-register to access the course (instructions on how to register are provided). The course will take up to 2 hours to complete.
We would encourage those of you that are delivering contraceptive services within your pharmacy to undertake this learning to further enhance your skills for effective contraceptive counselling.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy
The government announced the introduction of a new levy on producers and importers of soft drinks that contain added sugar in April 2016. The legislation covering the levy was passed in April 2017 and it came in to force in April 2018. The levy will help tackle the effects of sugar on our health especially on childhood obesity.
The levy applies to drinks containing added sugar with a total sugar content of 5g per 100ml or more at 18p per litre; with a higher rate for drinks with 8 grams or more per 100ml at 24p per litre.
Excess sugar consumption is associated with excess weight gain and obesity, which increases the likelihood of adults developing a wide range of serious health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. It is also causes tooth decay.
NHS England has also taken the lead on tackling the impact of sugar on public health by announcing their plans to ban sugary drinks from hospital shops unless suppliers take voluntary action to cut their sales over the next 12 months. This has resulted in some retailers voluntarily agreeing to reduce sales of sugary drinks to 10% of their total drinks sales within hospitals.
In addition, the NHS standard contract was amended in January to include the banning of sugary drinks in NHS hospitals from July 2018, unless there is sufficient movement from retailers to restrict sales to 10%.
PHE is responsible for overseeing the government’s sugar reduction programme, a commitment in Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action (published August 2016). This challenges all sectors of industry – retailers, manufacturers and the eating out of home sector e.g. pubs, restaurants, cafes, take away and delivery services – to reduce sugar in the foods that contribute most to the intakes of children up to 18 years by 20% by 2020. This covers foods like breakfast cereals, yogurts, confectionery, ice cream, cakes, biscuits and puddings. Guidelines to help industry achieve these reductions were published in March 2017. The first report on progress by industry was published in May 2018.
Juice and milk based drinks have now been incorporated into the programme, which aims to achieve a 5% sugar reduction in juices and a 20% reduction in milk based drinks (including milk substitutes) by mid-2021.
Now that we have over 9,400 HLPs who are reaching out to communities to improve their health, we would encourage you all to discuss within your teams how your pharmacy can support this very important health drive.
It would be great if HLPs could consider minimising stocking such products as a means of promoting good health. You may also want to review the placement and visibility of sugary drinks on your shelves. We would suggest that you consider displaying water and non-sugary drinks at eye level with sugary drinks not being so prominently displayed.
Ideally, HLPs may want to aim at reaching the same levels of sales of sugary drinks as shops in NHS Trusts. Do keep us informed of the actions you take to tackle the devastating effects of sugar on the health of the nation.
Oral health for pharmacy teams
Did you know?
- Despite being preventable about a quarter of five year-olds have tooth decay.
- Poor oral health may cause pain and can affect an individual's ability to eat, speak, smile and socialise, and miss days at school.
- It can also lead to parents/carers having to take time off work to take their children for treatment.
- Tooth extraction was the most common reason for hospital admission for children aged 5 to 9 years in 2014-15. Dental treatment under general anaesthesia presents a small but real risk of life-threatening complications for children and carries significant morbidity for children undergoing this procedure.
Pharmacy teams can help by promoting the following key messages:
- Eat and drink sugar less often
- Brush teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste
- Take children to the dentist when the first tooth starts to come through and then as often as recommended by the dentist
To find out more about children’s oral health you can go to:
British Heart Foundation (BHF) Blood Pressure Innovation Project - Cheshire & Merseyside
By Hassan Argomandkhah, Chair of Pharmacy Local Professional Network
In Cheshire & Merseyside (C&M) we now have almost 9 out of 10 pharmacies accredited as HLPs. This provides the whole of C&M population access to a HLP where every contact counts - that’s over 520 community pharmacies.
Since October 2017, 120 HLPs have been recruited to take part in the BHF project phase 1, with an additional 60 on a reserve list. Up to 3 members of staff from each of the 120 HLPs are being trained to take an accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement and will receive a British Hypertension Society approved BP machine per pharmacy to enable validated BP checks.
Between December 2017 and March 2018, 37 HLPs have conducted BP checks. Of the 293 BP measurements completed, 69 have resulted in a referral of which, 19 were for an urgent referral for GP appointments.
The Merseyside Local Professional Network is actively involved with Champs, the public health collaborative in C&M, to bid for BHF phase 2 and recruit a further 120 HLPs into the project.
Currently measurements are taken upon request from individuals walking into the pharmacy. In phase 2, we expect to expand the service to approach small to medium size enterprises with a view to measure their workforce BP.
Local pharmacy teams up with charities to drive awareness of bowel cancer
By Neil Trainis, Editor, Pharmacy Business
A community pharmacy has joined forces with a local fruit and vegetable market and two charities to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol, winners of the innovation award at last year’s Pharmacy Business Awards, partnered with Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer to make people aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease which normally affects people aged 60 or over.
Patients were asked to complete a bowel cancer symptoms quiz, the winner receiving a handpicked fruit and veg basket. Patients also received information on the symptoms of bowel cancer and bowel health advice.
Ade Williams, the lead pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy, said: ‘‘We were shocked to learn that a Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer survey revealed in the south west, one in three people could not name any of the symptoms of bowel cancer. That’s possibly one in three of our patients. We knew we had to do something.”
Gail Curry, head of health promotion and training at Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer says: “A key part of our work is helping educate the public about bowel cancer, in particular the importance of early diagnosis and knowing symptoms. It really does save lives. We are delighted to have the support of Bedminster Pharmacy to help us raise awareness.”
There are about 41,700 new bowel cancer cases in the UK every year according to Cancer Research UK.
Examples of best practice in Teeside
Tees Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) introduced Healthy Living Best Practice Events in 2016. They were born from the needs of our frontline Health Champions. They felt that their role could be made easier if they knew what campaigns were available locally, had resources provided and were upskilled on specific health topics.
As an example, our event in March 2018 covered Bowel Cancer and Dementia. We were joined by Cancer Research UK who delivered an education session on bowel cancer awareness, signs and symptoms, and risk factors. We used a ‘poo’ cake with chocolate bars to represent the Bristol stool chart which is now displayed in a pharmacy window to help our teams understand how to have the awkward conversations.
We also took time to listen to the Tees ‘poo’ song provided by our Public Health Team, which is currently being promoted across our area on social media, had an over-the-counter section looking at show items such as how Fybogel works in the body, and had a refresher on warning signs and when to refer to the pharmacist. I guess you could say we talked a lot of poo up north!
We were also joined by a Dementia Advocacy team. They introduced us to a local dementia hub and informed us of services that we can add to our signposting folders. We were privileged to listen to a patient who cared for her husband living with dementia for a number of years to help us understand what her journey was like and how we as pharmacy staff may be able to support a family on the dementia journey.
Resources such as posters and leaflets were provided on each topic along with a factsheet to enable Health Champions to promote a campaign to the best of their abilities. We support our teams by sourcing links and advising them in good time of where they can gain resources.
We are regularly contacted by national organisations such as PHE, Cancer Research UK and local organisations such as NHS Oral Health promotion team, service providers and public health teams. It enables us to all work together to look after the health of our local communities.
Health Champion Corner – Kelly Leaney
Kelly has been a Health Champion for Kasli Pharmacy, Nuneaton for a number of years. She completed the RSPH training in November 2016 and prior to that had completed the Making Every Contact Count (MECC) training in 2014.
Over the years she has promoted health and wellbeing within the pharmacy – our stop smoking service being a huge success that received national acclaim.
Kelly had previously worked as a carer and so, was already trained to provide care for people with dementia. She has used these skills to ensure pharmacy services are dementia-friendly and has built up a knowledge bank of local services that we can signpost both, people with dementia and their carers who often need support themselves.
Over the years Kelly has visited people in sheltered accommodation to explain what the pharmacy can do for them – from flu vaccinations to smoking cessation and healthy lifestyle advice. We have supported a community event in Grove Farm, a relatively deprived area, to talk about services such as hypertension and diabetes, offering blood glucose and blood pressure testing on the day. The response was phenomenal – we realised that a lot of these people never access any services.
Other initiatives include visiting local schools to talk about the harm from smoking, the benefits of healthy eating and physical activity. These outreach initiatives have built a strong link with local communities, establishing the pharmacy as a place to receive healthcare advice and support, not just prescriptions or medicines.
As the Health Champion, Kelly promotes our health campaigns in store by setting up displays, reading up on the campaigns prior to the campaign to ensure any resources required have been obtained, and engaging with not only people that walk into the pharmacy, but with the team to ensure the team is aware of the campaigns.
Know an exceptional Health Champion?
Does your Health Champion go above and beyond to help your community?
Do they take every opportunity and interaction to make every contact count?
Do they show initiative and enthusiasm in their everyday work in protecting and improving the public’s health?
If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions and would like to nominate your pharmacy Health Champion to be featured in the next newsletter, email us at hlpnewsletter@phe.gov.uk. Please provide a few paragraphs on why you think they deserve to be featured and attach any photos that showcase them and their work.
Events & Campaigns 2018
'Stay Well Pharmacy’ Campaign'
NHS England, working with PHE, launched a ‘Stay Well Pharmacy’ Campaign in February 2018. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the services offered by pharmacies, and to position them as the first place to go to for clinical advice and treatment for minor health concerns, such as coughs, colds and tummy troubles.
A suite of materials has been developed to promote the key messages of this campaign, including the message that pharmacists are healthcare experts who can give you clinical advice ‘right there and then’. These include posters, digital screens, mini information cards, a social media toolkit, and other bits of collateral. All these can be downloaded or ordered free of charge from PHE’s Campaign Resource Centre and we would encourage HLP leads to utilise these materials within their pharmacies to support this ongoing national campaign.
There are other PHE marketing campaigns coming up that can help your pharmacy staff provide brief health and wellbeing advice and have campaign materials available to support your Health Promotion Zones:
- Act F.A.S.T – currently live and running through the summer, this campaign highlights that a stroke is a medical emergency and the public are urged to take the below symptoms seriously and call 999 immediately if they notice any single one of them in themselves or others.
- Be Clear on Cancer Blood in Pee – live from 19th July, this campaign raises awareness of ‘blood in pee’ as a symptom of bladder and kidney cancers and aims to get everyone in the country to check before they flush.
- Active 10 – currently live, this campaign aims to encourage adults across England to incorporate more physical activity into their life by simply going for a brisk ten minute walk (or more) every day. It drives to the free ‘Active 10’ app that shows users how much brisk walking they are currently doing each day and provides tips and encouragement on how they can fit ten minute bursts of brisk walking, known as an Active 10, into their day.
- Heart Age – running from early September, this campaign aims to increase awareness of heart health and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, by encouraging adults to complete the new One You Heart Age Test and get a free blood pressure reading.
- Stoptober – running from mid-September, the 28-day stop smoking campaign from PHE will be back for its 8th year. Stoptober encourages as many smokers as possible to prepare to quit from 1 October by taking part in the campaign and utilising the range of free resources and support available, including face-to-face support from pharmacy staff.
- Stay Well this Winter– live from October, this campaign aims to ease seasonal pressure on NHS urgent care and emergency services by ensuring that people who are most at-risk of preventable emergency admission to hospital are aware of and, wherever possible, are motivated to take, those actions that may avoid admission this winter. This includes encouraging people get their flu vaccinations and messaging around self-care
Further information and free of charge campaign materials can be downloaded or ordered from PHE’s Campaign Resource Centre or by calling the pharmacy order line on 0300 123 1019, which is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
11-12 September PHE Annual Conference
The PHE Annual Conference 2018 has three key themes which will span across the programme:
- Promoting world leading science and evidence
- Making the economic case for prevention
- Working towards a healthier, fairer society
We would encourage you to attend this very valuable and informative event. For more information, visit the conference website.
15 – 17 October 7th World International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) Congress
Co-hosted by PHE and Sport England – the two agencies leading the physical activity and health agenda in England – the biennial forum has three main themes:
- Addressing inequalities within and through physical activity
- Evidence into policy and practice to achieve population change
- Physical activity and the wider determinants of health
To register, submit your work or just find out more, visit the 2018 Congress website.
Some recent updates
- Better conversations can change lives. This blog discusses the importance of conversations to ensure great service user experience and as a tool to prevent or manage ill health. It’s all about turning the focus from a mind-set of “what’s the matter with you?” to “what matters to you?”. You can read the post here.
- Your questions on preventing Type 2 diabetes. This blog focuses on the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which has been developed to prevent or delay onset of Type 2 diabetes in adults already identified to be at high risk. You can read it here.
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on cardiovascular disease prevention. NICE has released a new cardiovascular disease prevention resource this week, bringing together all of their relevant guidelines and resources. This includes guidance on behaviour change to reduce risk, diagnosing and managing conditions and a spotlight on severe mental illness. You can find it here.
- The sexual health commissioning cycle: doing and reviewing. This blog focuses on the last two stages of the commissioning cycle: ‘doing’ and ‘reviewing’. You can read the post here.