New rental charge for oxygen cylinders
BOC Medical will introduce a rental charge of £5.25 per cylinder
per month for Drug Tariff oxygen cylinders (AF, F and DF sizes) from
1 June, the company announced last week.
Invoices will not be sent until the fourth week of June, giving contractors
time to submit audits of their cylinders.
The Drug Tariff requires contractors to return all cylinders to the supplier.
However, BOC acknowledges that this may be difficult, since cylinders
may have been mislaid or returned to a different pharmacy.
Contractors who have completed audits of their cylinders will not be
charged the rental fee for any cylinders, BOC has confirmed.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee says that it is imperative
that any contractors who have not yet submitted their audit do so immediately
so that any
remaining issues can be resolved by the end of June.
Contractors do not at present need to return cylinders to BOC, the PSNC
says. Contractors simply need to send BOC an audit, by the end of June,
of the cylinders they have, that are with patients and that are unaccounted
for.
The PSNC has been assured that BOC will be reasonable in negotiations
with contractors who complete and submit audits, but is advising contractors
to hold off making any financial arrangements with oxygen contractors
(unless the terms of their contracts require them to do so) while negotiations
to reach a national settlement are ongoing. |
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Pharmaceutical Journal
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