Contract negotiations look at distribution of funds
Negotiations between the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the NHS Confederation and the Department of Health on the new pharmacy contract for England and Wales have moved on to discussions on the distribution of funds to contractors.
Following last week’s April meeting of the PSNC, chief executive
Sue Sharpe said that the negotiating team had been given a clear mandate
to come back to the May meeting with well-worked up options for how the
new global sum could be distributed.
However, Mrs Sharpe warned: “There are a number of difficult areas.
We are still in discussions with the Department on the details of the
costs to be applied for each service and how the different elements will
be funded.”
Mrs Sharpe confirmed that the Department had accepted that the cost to
pharmacists of providing services under the current contract was considerably
more than they actually were paid by the Department.
With only a few weeks to go, the PSNC still hopes that roadshows to present
specifications of the package of services and funding to contractors
will start late in May or early in June. Mrs Sharpe expects that the
roadshows will also include an explanation of how pharmacy information
technology will be funded under the new contract.
Steven Williams: there is still a lot to do |
Speaking at the AAH convention in
Monaco on 18 April, Steven Williams,
chairman of the PSNC contract planning committee, said: “We are
working hard to get it sorted but there is an awful lot to do, particularly
around funding of the new contract. ...
I cannot say that we will get it finished for October. If we are going
to introduce a new contract in October, we have to get the detail sorted
out by the end of May so that there is time for contractors to vote on
it and for regulatory changes to go through Parliament.”
Other matters considered at the PSNC’s April meeting included consideration
of what might be in new regulations that will set out the terms of service
for community pharmacies under the new contract. Although no draft has
been produced by the Department, the PSNC will want the regulations to
facilitate patient pack dispensing and clarify the prohibition on inducements
intended to attract additional dispensing. In particular, the PSNC wants
clarification of whether or not offers of off-contract services, such
as home delivery of medicines or monitored dosage systems, are prohibited
inducements.
The PSNC also decided to give multiple pharmacy companies a greater say
on the committee. The number of members appointed by the Company Chemists
Association will rise from four to seven, with a further three new members
being appointed by the Association of Independent Multiples. The numbers
of regional members elected to represent independents remains at 15,
plus five nominees from the National Pharmaceutical Association. The
PSNC will also incorporate as a company limited by guarantee in order
to reduce the personal
liability of PSNC members. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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