Community pharmacy contractors must complete their clinical governance requirements before the end of the financial year on 31 March in line with their terms of service.

The clinical governance requirements of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) cover a range of quality related issues and are set out in Schedule 4 of the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013.

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The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has urged contractors to ensure that they have completed, or are working on the requirements in time for the deadline.

The negotiator released a reference guide identifying the actions to be completed by 31 March 2017, as well as details of ongoing clinical governance requirements.

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Clinical governance requirements

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• Information Governance (IG) Toolkit - To complete and submit an annual IG Toolkit - 31 March 2017

• Community Pharmacy Patient Questionnaire (CPPQ) - To conduct an annual CPPQ and publish the results - 31 March 2017

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• Clinical audit - To conduct two audits each year: one on a topic of your choice and one determined by NHS England (please note, no national audit has been determined for 2016/17) - 31 March 2017

• Complaints report - To prepare an annual report each year and send a copy to the local NHS team - As soon as practicable after 31 March 2017 [/box]