The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7325 p705
13 November 2004

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Welsh funding for new contract will match English

The Welsh Assembly Government has reaffirmed its view that the new pharmacy contract applies to both England and Wales, and has announced that it will match the funding provision for England.

Peter Haydn Jones, chief executive of Community Pharmacy Wales, said that he understood that Jane Hutt, minister for health and social services in Wales, made a clear commitment to match funding for England in her statement to the Health and Social Services Committee last Wednesday. However, specific figures were not announced and are not expected.

“Because of the WAG commitment to the funding models, CPW does not expect an announcement on a specific figure for Wales,” Mr Jones told The Journal. “Rather, this will be profiled within the WAG specific plans for 2005–06. This is because the contract is going to be managed through regulation and paid through the Drug Tariff, and the Drug Tariff covers England and Wales.”

Community Pharmacy Wales has produced an addendum to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s book detailing the proposed contract. It states: “The Welsh Assembly Government has stated that it will match the funding provision and that the distribution model used for contractors in Wales will be the same as that agreed by the PSNC and the Department of Health for contractors in England.” It goes on to explain that the figures in the financial summary of the new contract can thus be applied to contractors in Wales on an equivalent basis. Copies of the CPW addendum were sent out to pharmacy contractors in Wales last week along with their copies of the PSNC book (PJ, 30 October, p637).