The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7194 p521-527
20 April 2002

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Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (www.psnc.org.uk)

PSNC starts talks on contract for 2003

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has started a series of meetings with the Department of Health on the new contract for community pharmacy in England and Wales.

Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the PSNC, told The Journal at a press briefing on 12 April: "We are looking for this year to be the last under the old contract." The PSNC has held a number of meetings with the Department to discuss a new cost of service model for the work undertaken in community pharmacies as part of the National Health Service. Once the two sides are agreed on how much it costs to provide the service they can move on to discussing remuneration. Mrs Sharpe said that a number of cost of service models were being assessed to see if any is acceptable. "We need our model to be ready this year."

She added that it had become clear that many contractors found that the current funding for NHS dispensing "goes nowhere to covering the cost of providing the service". The PSNC believes that if the existing scheme had been properly reviewed over the years, funding under it would be about 50 per cent higher than it currently is. The PSNC will hold a formal meeting with the Department on proposals for the new contract later this month. Discussions are also under way on remuneration arrangements for 2002–03 under the existing contract.

The PSNC has also had meetings with the Department about the future of generic medicines reimbursement, at which Mrs Sharpe said that health ministers had accepted the need not to make any unilateral changes that could destabilise the pharmacy market.