Rising demands from new contract
Community pharmacists are at risk of ever-increasing demands from the National Health Service for higher standards and more services under their new contract.
Speaking at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee community
pharmacy conference in Birmingham this week, Felicity Cox, chief executive
of Watford and Three Rivers Primary Care Trust, said: “All contracts
have a finite life. I would expect to see levels of service and quality
ramped up over time.” Ms Cox is a member of the NHS Confederation
team that is negotiating the new pharmacy contract for England and Wales
with the PSNC and the Department of Health.
Whether constantly changing contracts become a reality will depend on
the negotiating strength of the PSNC. Sue Sharpe, the PSNC chief executive,
stated emphatically that the committee does not intend to negotiate a
time-limited new contract.
Another challenge that pharmacy contractors may face is ensuring consistent
delivery of services if they are relying heavily on locum staff to run
their pharmacies. |
