Give us your views on Pharmaceutical Needs - Dispensing Appliance Contractors - West Northamptonshire Council

Overview

North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council Public Health teams are completing some important research and gathering information to support the development of Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs).

The PNAs can help to identify unmet needs, improvements or better access to, pharmaceutical. As part of this work we are gathering feedback from Dispensing Appliance Contractors which will tell us where contractors are already contributing to meeting people’s needs and can help us and other commissioners meet the needs of the population in the future.

What is a Dispensing Appliance Contractor? What is a Dispensing Appliance Contractor?

A Dispensing Appliance Contractor (DAC) is a specialised supplier of medical appliances and devices, particularly those used in the treatment of long-term medical conditions or disabilities. Unlike pharmacies, DACs do not typically dispense medications.

The PNAs will:

Be the basis for market entry applications to open new premises,
Inform relocations of existing premises,
Inform applications to change core opening hours or to provide additional pharmaceutical services and
Be used by NHS England and NHS Improvement – Midlands to make decisions regarding these matters.

We have developed this questionnaire with the support of the PNA project group of which the Community Pharmacy BLMK and Northamptonshire, and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) Chief Medical Officer are members.

In developing the questionnaire, we are only asking for information that is needed but is not routinely held or which we would like confirmation of. As you will see we have kept the questionnaire as short as possible and anticipate that it should take no longer than five minutes to complete.

This survey closes midnight on Sunday 6 October 2024, but we would urge you to complete it as soon as possible.

You can visit the Community Pharmacy England website for further information about PNAs.

The responses you provide will be used to develop an analysis report and will only be used for the purpose of this survey and developing the PNA. Any data will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice.

For queries relating to the information requested or the answers required please email ph.healthprotection@westnorthants.gov.uk

For information about how your responses are managed please see the appropriate privacy notice for your local area:

What happens next?

We will consider all feedback which will then be placed into a final report. The final report will be published in Spring 2025 and will be available on the appropriate website: