Funding details for new contract in England revealed
Details of how the funding for the new community pharmacy contract in England is to be distributed were announced this week. If contractors
vote to accept the new contract, it will be implemented in April 2005.
Funding details
Payment for essential services will include a fee of 90p for each
dispensed item plus special fees and allowances. Contractors will
receive an annual establishment payment that replaces the current
professional allowance and a new fee called a practice payment
that adds 24.2p to the item fee. There are special arrangements
for pharmacies that dispense low volumes of prescriptions.
For advanced services, contractors will receive £23 for each
medicines use review carried out. Total funding to introduce new
IT systems in pharmacies comes to £58m but the amount each
pharmacy will receive has yet to be finalised. |
PSNC has published a contract book |
The
distribution details are outlined in the Panel (right) and are covered
more fully in a News feature on
pp637–8.
Speaking at a meeting of the All Party Pharmacy Group on 25 October,
Barry Andrews, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee,
said that the new contract offered an immense opportunity for pharmacists. “We
believe that we have arrived at a win-win situation. It offers fair return
for contractors and excellent return for the NHS,” he said. The
contract gives pharmacists both professional satisfaction and financial
security, he added.
Health minister Rosie Winterton said: “The way will be clear for
community pharmacy to take up its rightful place as a full partner in
the provision of NHS primary care services. There are very real opportunities
for PCTs and pharmacies to grasp here. Pharmacy service providers can
make a real contribution to achieving local performance targets.” She
urged the NHS to forge new
relations with community pharmacy. “The Department will work with
the NHS to
provide support and training in the months ahead. But the time to act
is now. The new framework offers opportunities as never
before,” she said.
Chris Town, NHS Confederation pharmacy lead, added: “Primary care
trusts should be assessing their local needs now so that they are fully
able to exploit these opportunities in order to maximise the benefits
to patients.”
The announcement was widely welcomed by pharmacy organisations. The National
Pharmaceutical Association said that it believes the new contract is
fundamental to taking forward the profession. Ash Soni, NPA chairman,
said: “The new contract provides a platform from which to enhance
pharmacy services and to integrate community pharmacy into the health
service.”
On behalf of the Company Chemists’ Association, chairman Digby
Emson said: “This is something that the profession has been striving
towards for many years and it is the beginning of a new chapter in the
development of community pharmacy.”
Nicholas Wood, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, commented: “We
are pleased to see that the ambitions for the
pharmacy profession outlined in ‘A vision for pharmacy’ have
progressed in this way.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader