PSNC agrees funding for new pharmacy contract
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has agreed
a deal of £1.766bn to fund the new community pharmacy contract in England.
The decision to accept the latest Department of Health offer was made
at a special meeting of the PSNC held on 24 August. The committee voted
unanimously in favour of accepting the deal, subject to a number of issues
being addressed.
Barry Andrews, chairman of the PSNC, said: “This has been a long
and difficult
negotiation but the unanimous vote demonstrates that we believe we now
have a sum that offers fair funding.”
The £1.766bn figure compares with a global sum in 2003–04
of £862.5m in England and Wales. Approximately £800m of this
sum is spent in England.
Sue Sharpe, PSNC chief executive, said: “There are now a number
of key issues to be resolved, including the distribution arrangements
and mechanisms for future years. The negotiating team will work on these
in the next few weeks and the PSNC committee will make decisions at its
meeting next month.”
Mr Andrews added: “Provided we can reach agreement on the outstanding
issues, we can proceed to roadshows and a ballot of contractors.”
The National Pharmaceutical Association said it fully supported the PSNC’s
decision.
The news broke on Wednesday as The Journal went to press. The PSNC confirmed
that further details would be supplied for publication in next week’s
Journal. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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