The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7237 p255
22 February 2003

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

PSNC confirms two-tier approach to new pharmacy contract for April 2004

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has confirmed that it is planning to negotiate a two-tier pharmacy contract. It still expects it to start in April 2004.

Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the PSNC, told The Journal last week that the lower tier should be similar to the present service provision. "There will still be a dispensing fee — the questions are about how much it will be and what proportion of the global sum it will take," Mrs Sharpe said. The higher tier will include payment for structured medicines use reviews and supplying medicines to treat minor ailments to patients exempt from prescription charges in order to take this work from general practitioners. Both tiers will have clinical governance and audit requirements. The PSNC has decided that before any new contract is agreed, it will ballot contractors as to whether the terms are acceptable.

Ahead of a new contract in England and Wales, the PSNC and the Department of Health are working on possible funding models. The Prescription Pricing Authority is also looking to simplify reimbursement for pharmacies, probably linked to electronic transmission of prescriptions. All of this work is at an early stage, but Mrs Sharpe still expects the new contract to take effect in April 2004. "Only substantial changes to the control of entry regulations would throw us off target," she said.

Other matters discussed at the PSNC February meeting are listed below:

Period of treatment fee The PSNC is to ask the Department to reinstate the period of treatment fee from 1 April. The PSNC took a controversial decision at the end of last year to see the fee suspended (PJ, 21/28 December 2002, p877), aiming to avoid an overspend on the global sum. Mrs Sharpe expects "a lot of views to be aired forcefully" on the subject. Three motions on it will be debated at the local pharmaceutical committees' conference in London on 3 March.

However, she added that the Department of Health appears to want to get rid of the fee. It has already been abolished in Scotland. Mrs Sharpe said that the whole area covered by the fee is complex and that amending the list of treatments might be difficult.

PSNC chairman Barry Andrews has been reappointed for a second and final two-year term as chairman of the PSNC starting in July.

Public affairs Melanie Smaus has joined the PSNC in the new role of public affairs officer. She will work on lobbying politicians and keeping up to date with developments in Government policy.

LPC levy The PSNC is seeking a 2.8 per cent increase in the levy on LPCs.

Oxygen Contractors who have to pay rental to BOC on integrated oxygen cylinders should claim this as an out-of-pocket expense until the matter is settled with the Department.

Public health The PSNC, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and PharmacyHealthLinks are to develop a public health resource pack for community pharmacists.