New contract will be phased in next year
The new pharmacy contract in England and Wales will be agreed by April 2004 but implementation is to be phased in gradually after that date, it was revealed this week.
Speaking at a community pharmacy conference organised by The Pharmaceutical
Journal on 23 November, Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee, said that the target date for the new
contract is still April 2004.
“April 2004 is not going to be a date on which there is earth-shattering
change,” she said. “But we are still on target for having
an agreement of a structure in place by then.” A period of transition
of implementing the new contract would then follow, she added.
After the conference, Alastair Buxton, head of NHS services at the PSNC,
told The Journal: “The phased implementation will depend on what
comes out of the financial discussions. We have got to know what is being
implemented first,” he said.
A full report of the conference, including other details about the new
contract that were presented by Mrs Sharpe, will be published in next
week’s Journal. |
