Minister takes interest in oxygen cylinder costs proposed for October
Pharmacies face bills for cylinders |
Rosie Winterton, the minister responsible for community pharmacy in England, is taking an interest in concerns that changes to the domiciliary oxygen service due on 1 October will leave pharmacy contractors out of pocket.
At a meeting with National Pharmaceutical Association representatives
last week, Ms Winterton asked for a detailed paper setting out the association’s
concerns so that she could consider them.
NPA chief executive, John D’Arcy, told the minister that BOC had
pharmacy contractors over a barrel on account of its request that they
account for the oxygen cylinders they handle.
Mr D’Arcy said: “If [contractors] do the reconciliation they
face a huge bill for any cylinders unaccounted for, but if they don’t,
they face a rental charge for cylinders with no guarantee that this will
be reimbursed. Given the difficulties associated with keeping track of
cylinders in day-to-day practice, we made clear to the minister that
the NPA considers it unacceptable for contractors to face financial loss
as a consequence of the introduction of the new arrangements.”
Shortly before the meeting between the NPA and Ms Winterton, the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee announced that it had persuaded BOC to
extend to 1 April a deadline for accounting for oxygen cylinders. BOC
had demanded that contractors account for their cylinders and pay for
any that were missing by the end of January or face a rental charge from
1 February.
As a quid pro quo for the extension, the PSNC has had to agree to encourage
contractors to conduct a full audit of oxygen cylinders as soon as possible.
Contractors have been told to find out from BOC how many oxygen cylinders
the company believes them to be responsible for. Contractors who have
too many have been advised to tell BOC that they agree with the BOC figure
and to notify PSNC representatives about the excess. Contractors with
too few are advised to tell BOC by 25 February.
A meeting between the PSNC and BOC will be held in March to discuss the
differences. |
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