Supply of Medicines & Controlled Drugs and Pharmacy Supply.

As a general oversight, the main focus of the required service(s) includes: • To supply the trust with filled medicines bags, medicines stock and Controlled Drugs (CDs) • To have a Manufacturer “Specials” (MS) licence which will: - Enable the return of medicines bags back from operational use for re-stocking - Ensure that opened packs of medicines in drug bags can be returned & re-issued to avoid waste - Enable supply of spilt medicines packs (for example single ampoules) in drug bags • To have a Distribution Licence [WDA(H)] to enable supply of medicines to NEAS • To support NEAS with regulatory compliance with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and compliance against Home Office Licensing and Legislation requirements. • To produce monthly management information (MI) on all aspects of the service, including KPI reports. • To purchase medicines at the most cost effective price and ensure robust purchasing processes are in place. The Contractor will manage the maintenance and replenishment of our medicines and drugs and source all necessary stock requirements. Currently, our supply of medicines/drugs to our front line emergency crews is structured as follows: Drug Bags: NEAS has around 140 Emergency response vehicles on the road at any one time and these require 4 drug bags each to be supplied/maintained. Of these 500+ drug bags, they are colour coded to reflect contents: - Blue (respiratory / cardiac) - Yellow (neurological) - Black (pain relief) - Red (for cardiac arrest) NEAS require approximately 75 bags of each colour to be packed and checked by our supplier each week. The drug bags will then be returned to the contractor for re-stocking when they reach minimum stock levels. Further information on the medicine & drug products currently used is available upon request and in response to this PIN notice. NEAS are considering bringing the Pharmacy Services element in-house, with the direct bulk supply of medicines/drugs remaining as the market requirement. To support that decision making process, this PIN request appropriately licenced suppliers to express their interest, outlining their capacity and capability to provide the full pharmacy services and/or supply of medicines/drugs within the North East of England. Should NEAS receive indication that there are sufficient providers able to provide the services within the North East, the intention may be to tender for the services in June '24.