Remuneration and reimbursement for pharmacy contractors in England and Wales is now two months behind schedule and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, the Prescription Pricing Authority has admitted.
In a letter to contractors on November 15, the PPA set out its proposals for payments for National Health Service dispensing over the next three months.
On December 1, contractors will receive payment comprising an interim payment based on their October prescriptions, plus the value of their prescription schedule for August, less the interim payment made on November 1. The PPA says that payment will be made on time, but that contractors can expect their payment statements and interim payment schedules to be a few days later than usual.
On December 30, a payment for January, 2000, will be made based only on an interim calculation for November prescriptions. On February 1, 2000, payment will comprise an interim payment based on December prescriptions, plus the value of September prescription schedules, less interim payments made on December 1.
The letter, signed by Mr John Smith (director of finance and administrative services, PPA) said that the organisation was actively pursuing all avenues to reduce delays to prescription processing.