About PSNC

Aylesbury Office The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is recognised by the Secretary of State for Health as the representative of community pharmacy on NHS matters.

PSNC's main objective is to secure the best possible NHS service opportunities, remuneration, terms and conditions for NHS pharmacy contractors in England. PSNC represents and promotes the interests of 10,500 pharmacy contractors (pharmacy owners) in England. It is the role of PSNC to liaise with the Department of Health and representatives of the NHS in England to negotiate the contractual terms for the provision of NHS community pharmacy services.

PSNC works closely with its sister body Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) which represents community pharmacy contractors in Wales. At present most of the English national pharmacy contract negotiated by PSNC is adopted by the Welsh Assembly Government, but where Welsh contractual arrangements differ from those in England, CPW negotiates on behalf of its contractors.

PSNC also operates the National Prescription Research Centre (NPRC) based in North London. A percentage of all prescriptions sent to NHS Prescription Services are checked and any errors in pricing are corrected.

PSNC Structure

PSNC is an association whose functions and procedures are set out in a Constitution and Rules (these documents are effective from 1 April 2010 (for the versions applying immediately before this date, contact Steve Lutener at PSNC (steve.lutener@psnc.org.uk))

With effect from 1 April 2010 the PSNC has 32 members on its main committee:

13 members elected on a regional basis from England
1 member nominated by Community Pharmacy Wales
2 members nominated by the Board of the National Pharmacy Association
12 members nominated by the Company Chemists' Association
3 members elected from the non Company Chemists' Association multiples

Plus a non-executive chairman

There are four Sub-committees:

Funding and Contract;
LPC and Implementation Support;
Resource Development and Finance; and
Service Development.

All members of PSNC adhere to corporate governance principles adopted by the Committee in April 2003. Members are also required to adhere to a Code of Conduct. The corporate governance principles and Code of Conduct are available here.

Information on the membership of the current Committee is available in the PSNC Committee section of the site.

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