The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7411 p132
29 July 2006

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· The profession (2)
· Dispensing
· Medicine use reviews
· Strains and sprains
· CPPE
· Fellowship

Letters to the Editor

Dispensing

Compliance aid supplies to patients under the DDA

From Mr P. M. Kirby, MRPharmS

A problem has arisen that I could foresee when the new community pharmacy contract was implemented last April. When we were asked to vote on the new contract there was originally supposed to be a level 1 and level 2 payment for provision of services under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Although the fees had not been decided at the time the level 2 fee was envisaged to include services such as the provision of a patient’s medicines in compliance aids. However what actually happened when the first Drug Tariff appeared under the new contract was that a nominal fee of approximately 2p was added to the dispensing fee across the board, regardless of provision of this service or not.

This problem has been highlighted lately by our primary care trust (and, I believe, others nationally), which has sent out letters to GPs asking them no longer to write seven-day prescriptions. Thus any pharmacies that were dispensing medicines in compliance aids to patients in co-operation with their local surgeries before the new contract could be adversely affected if such advice is heeded. Having spoken to the National Pharmacy Association, I am not alone in noticing this and was advised to contact the PCT and local pharmaceutical committee to highlight this problem. I was also informed by the NPA that there seems to be a belief held nationally by many PCTs that by dispensing a compliance aid to a patient an extra fee will be paid, as is obviously not the case. Therefore, pharmacies doing a lot of compliance aid dispensing will be disadvantaged if they happen to be in a PCT that implements this idea. Post code lottery comes to mind.

One crumb of comfort is that the final decision to use seven- or 28-day prescriptions lies with the GP. I am sure if the PCT informed GPs of the time and expense to dispense a prescription in a compliance aid they would see the logic in prescribing seven-day prescriptions. Here’s hoping!

Paul Kirby
Billingham, Cleveland

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