PSNC opposes further easing of contract controls
No more changes to the rules on applying for new pharmacy contracts in England should be made, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has told the Department of Health.
Responding to the DoH review of progress on reforms in England to the
control-of-entry system for NHS pharmacy contractors (PJ, June 17, p707),
the PSNC said: “This review is being conducted soon after the reforms
were brought into force, yet the evidence is that applicants have seized
on the opportunities afforded by the exemptions, and the new criteria
of choice, and that this has opened up the pharmacy market to a very
great extent.”
Overall, there have been 130 new contracts granted in the first year
of the control-of-entry reforms, of which more than 100 were for 100-hour
pharmacies and pharmacies in large retail developments.
However, the PSNC adds that a mechanism for existing contractors to appeal
against new contracts granted under the exemptions should be brought
in. This is because NHS Litigation Authority figures, based on cases
where appeals are possible, show that primary care trusts are more likely
to award contracts that should be refused than they are to refuse applications
that should be approved.
“If this proportion occurred in the case of exempt applications
where appeals are not possible then there will be considerable injustice,” the
PSNC says.
The PSNC also believes that PCTs are likely to be unable to monitor whether
new contractors comply with any commitments they make in order to win
their contracts. |
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