The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7394 p373
1 April 2006

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News summary

GPs' dispensing fees do not favour brands

New dispensing fees paid to dispensing doctors in England mean that these doctors have lost the ability to boost their income by prescribing branded medicines rather then their cheaper generic equivalents.

The new fee scale, which brings to an end on-cost payments, was proposed by the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee and accepted by NHS Employers (a division of the NHS Confederation).

From 1 April, dispensing medical practices will receive from 204.5p to 230.9p per prescription, depending on their monthly dispensing volume. Non-dispensing practices will receive from 214.2p to 240.6p per personally administered item.

The BMA and NHS Employers are also developing a dispensary quality scheme which is intended to align more closely the services that patients get from dispensing practices with those that other patients get from community pharmacies.