The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7206 pp53-57
13 July 2002

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  Repeat dispensing
  Prescription charges
  Remuneration
  Jacob Bell
  ADR reporting
  Evidence-based medicine
  The Society

Letters to the Editor

Repeat dispensing

Clarification of the role of the Prescription Pricing Authority

From Mr M. King, MRPharmS

Bob Gartside's article (PJ, 29 June, p902) succeeded in comprehensively misattributing our involvement in the Department of Health's repeat dispensing scheme.

The most significant claim he makes is that the proposal "has, effectively, been designed by the Prescription Pricing Authority". The DoH consulted widely — and continues to do so — in developing the proposal thus far. Part of that process was to examine all the available methodologies to narrow in on a workable scheme. We contributed to the consultation because, with a throughput of more than 600 million prescriptions last year, we believe we have some relevant knowledge. But we have not closed the book on repeat dispensing and we will be evaluating our experience of the pathfinder projects alongside other NHS plan developments to further our knowledge, sharing that knowledge with our stakeholders.

We deal in a complex environment with a growing range of prescribers, using different form types, including FP10(MDA) for instalment prescribing. Our "pricing procedures" continue to accommodate diverse inputs beyond the basic FP10. Alongside that complexity, we are also dealing with historically high levels of growth. We recovered from Category D, to timescale, precisely because we re-engineered our core processing. To manage growth and complexity, we have kept the momentum behind the redesign of our systems, working practices and the continuing development of our skilled and dedicated staff. Because we continue to develop and refine our approach to changes emanating from "Pharmacy in the future" and the significant challenge of electronic transmission of prescriptions, we can plan to accept substantial growth with increasing flexibility and a consistent commitment to our standards of delivery.

As much as any pharmacist within a primary care trust pursuing a pathfinder proposal, we hope to learn and improve in the light of experience gained from repeat dispensing. We will also continue to contribute to the debate that supports the DoH in delivering the NHS plan.

Michael King
Director of Planning and Corporate Affairs
Prescription Pricing Authority

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