IPF calls for emergency funding for independents
Changes to Category M reimbursement prices, implemented last October, are having a significant impact on independent contractors’ ability to pay their bills and manage cash flows, the Independent
Pharmacy Federation stated this week. The IPF has called for the Department of Health to provide emergency funding for independent contractors so they can continue to provide NHS pharmacy services.
The IPF claims that there has been no increase in net profits in community
pharmacy since the introduction of the contract in England and Wales
in 2005.
“Category M price changes are unfair and inequitable as a method
for discount recovery as the impact on individual contractors varies
widely,” the
body states. “Worse still, contractors who have bought a business
recently are being penalised for ‘excess purchase profits’ they
have never made and cannot quantify.”
According to the IPF the community pharmacy contract fails to allow for
the creation of capital to invest in providing for growth in prescription
volume or the increased costs of delivering high-quality pharmaceutical
care. It views the contract as “not fit for purpose” and
driven by prescription volume that is neither patient-focused nor rewarding
of outcomes.
“The limit of £500m set for the supposed ‘purchase
profits’ component
of the contract is completely arbitrary and apparently insufficient to
run the pharmacy service,” it says.
The IPF calls for Category M prices to be “revised to a realistic
level” by April and for the DoH and the Pharmaceutical Services
Negotiating Committee to review the cost of operating under the current
contract which, the IPF believes, is significantly more expensive to
service.
Numark members Cash flow problems following changes to Category
M were flagged
up by members of Numark’s pharmacy advisory board at a recent meeting.
John D’Arcy, interim managing director at Numark, said: “The consensus
was that we need a fair and consistent system that enables proper business planning,
especially at a time when pharmacists need to invest in people and premises.”
He argued: “Is Category M the right mechanism for adjusting the reimbursement?
It doesn’t look as if it is working and we strongly urge the PSNC to review
the situation with the DoH.”
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