PJ Online | News: Four per cent more after 10 years is "pitiful recompense", says Sue Sharpe

The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7176 p767-773
1 December 2001

Four per cent more after 10 years is "pitiful recompense", says Sue Sharpe

A four per cent real terms increase in remuneration over 10 years is pitiful recompense for the cost of dispensing 44 per cent more prescriptions, says Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. Much of the new money, 40 per cent, is payment for the additional work of prescription charge exemption checks.

In a statement, the PSNC says: "It seems the Department of Health is just unaware of how much community pharmacy has done in recent years that is of real benefit to patients. Either that or it chooses to ignore it." It adds that contractors were wondering whether there was Government intent to allow attrition to continue until large numbers of pharmacies were driven out of business.

PSNC considers response to 3.7 per cent imposition

STEPS to be taken by pharmacy contractors in response to the imposition of a 3.7 per cent remuneration increase and a 10p per prescription clawback for six months are under consideration by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.

But the options seem to be limited to some form of public relations campaign.

PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe said on 27 November: "The PSNC is unwilling to recommend any action which could put contractors in breach of their terms of service or sanction which could harm patients or pharmacy services."

The situation is further complicated by a reluctance to send any negative signals to primary care trusts at a time when contractors are developing relationships that they hope will lead to locally negotiated remunerated services.

The comments were made in the light of a letter sent to pharmacy contractors in England last week from Hazel Blears, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in which she says that this year's settlement of 3.7 per cent is fair. The cut in the dispensing fee to 87.4p is, to a great extent, necessary to recover an £8.1m overpayment built up over the past 18 months. It is expected to rise to around 94p when the overpayment is cleared next April.

PSNC chairman Barry Andrews said that the minister's letter was unprecedented. "It shows that the Government is alert to the extent that the 10p cut in the dispensing fee will hit contractors."

He rejected the assertion that a 3.7 per cent increase with nothing to compensate for the dramatic increase in prescription volumes was fair and said that the letter included no satisfactory explanation or any real attempt to justify it.

The Minister's letter added: "The leaders of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee have been to see me, and argued forcefully that the recovering of the overpayment that built up last year should be written off. But it is important to remember that the global sum system cuts both ways. This year there is an overpayment to recover. But in other years there have been underpayments. In 1999–2000 we made good an underpayment of nearly £5m from the previous year when activity was not as great as forecast."

The PSNC has asked to for a meeting with the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn.

NPA pulls plug on repeat dispensing and pharmacy plan

ALL community pharmacies, apart from Boots The Chemists, have decided to rule out any new National Health Service work unless the Government promises to pay for it properly. The immediate target of the threat is the introduction of pharmacy-based repeat dispensing.

A statement issued on 27 November, following the imposition of a 3.7 per cent remuneration increase coupled with a five-month 10 per cent cut in dispensing fees says that NPA members will not engage in any new roles without a Government assurance of proper resourcing.

Attention is being focussed on repeat dispensing because it will involve additional administration and will highlight the problems inherent in a remuneration system that does not recognise increases in prescription volume.