Claw back in Scotland is increased but some of the money will be ploughed back into pharmacy
The claw back on proprietary items in Scotland has been increased to
an average of 9.97 per cent, it was announced this week (PDF 50K). However,
some of this money will be reinvested in community pharmacy infrastructure.
The claw back revision follows an inquiry
into proprietary discounts carried out last year (PJ, 6 September 2003, p290). Claw back — in
which the NHS recovers an average level of discount from pharmacists — was
previously set at an average of 8.9 per cent. The change will cover July
2004 prescriptions onwards. But a deal negotiated between the Scottish
Pharmaceutical General Council and the Scottish Executive means that,
effectively, £2m of the claw back will be invested in infrastructure
needed to support the new community pharmacy contract. Frank Owens, chairman
of the SPGC, said that he was content that a fair deal had been secured.
Three further changes have been agreed. First, the broken bulk provision
will now apply to dressings that are individually wrapped (and so maintain
sterile integrity) and will come into effect for prescriptions dispensed
from August. Second, the arrangements for accuracy monitoring of payments
have been changed with effect from August prescriptions. Under the new
system, if random post event sampling identifies a net error rate to
the detriment of contractors of more than 0.2 per cent, a general compensatory
payment will be made to all contractors in addition to the correction
of
individual payments. There will be no general adjustment where the error
is to the advantage of contractors.
Third, new reimbursement prices have been agreed for lisinopril, doxazosin
and simvastatin. These will come into effect from July dispensings. “In
respect of simvastatin in particular it should be noted that reimbursement
prices have been set with the co-operation of SPGC to support both clinical
objectives and the needs of contractors,” according to the Scottish
Executive.
The SPGC said that the key to securing the agreement was the establishment
of the new investment. Mr Owens said: “We’ve put a lot of
hard work into these discussions. While we understand the NHS has a duty
to secure value for money, nevertheless, the savings achieved through
discount recoveries are only generated by the considerable efforts of
community pharmacy. I am delighted, therefore, that those efforts are
now being formally recognised through a major reinvestment programme
totalling over £2m.”
It is expcted that a quarter of this fund will be spent on pharmacy support
staff training. “A working party is being set up to examine what
the new contract will mean for the training of support staff,” said
Mr Owens. How the other £1.5m will be spent is not yet decided
but it is likely to include information management and technology, and
premises development, he added. On top of this, the Scottish Executive
has increased the preregistration grant from £4,740 to £6,000. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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