Home Broken Bulk
The broken bulk endorsement enables pharmacy contractors to claim payment for a complete pack of a product where only a part-pack has been dispensed. Broken bulk can be claimed for all medicines (other than unlicensed medicines) as well as appliances listed in Part IXB (incontinence products), IXC (stoma products) and Part IXR (chemical reagents) of the Drug Tariff. Broken bulk cannot be claimed for appliances listed in Part IXA (general appliances including dressings) or on products that have special container/sealed pack status.
To make a claim, endorse the prescription with information on the pack size supplied and the endorsement 'BB'.
If a claim is accepted, pharmacy contractors will be reimbursed for the complete pack dispensed. Subsequent prescriptions received during the next six months will be deemed to have been supplied from the remainder. During this time, no further payment will be made other than fees and container allowances until the remainder has been used up.
For a claim to be accepted, pharmacy contractors must dispense from the pack or combination of packs that minimises the residual balance. Contractors should only claim broken bulk where it is unlikely that they will be able to dispose of the remainder, for example through using the balance to fill other prescriptions. The NHS Prescription Services apply a rule known as the 'two thirds' rule when assessing whether the balance can be readily disposed of. Where in the first month that a claim is made, if 2 or more prescriptions for the product are received and the total volume dispensed is over two thirds of the pack, the broken bulk claim would not be allowed.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have received an FP10 prescription for 7ml of Zopiclone oral suspension 3.75mg/5ml. My specials manufacturer will only supply a minimum size of 10ml. Can I claim Broken Bulk on this?
Broken Bulk cannot be claimed on unlicensed specials manufactured or supplied by a company operating under an MHRA specials licence. It should be noted that in Part VIIIB of the Drug Tariff, there is a minimum reimbursement price set against a pack size of 100ml though - so a contractor wouldn't be paid less than the list price for 100ml, even if less was prescribed.
However, if a product has been extemporaneously dispensed by the pharmacy contractor, broken bulk will be allowed on the ingredients used to make it. This is to cover times when the contractor my not have the opportunity to use the remained of the open container used in preparing the special.
I am reviewing the expensive items detailed on my schedule of payments. Where I have claimed broken bulk for a particular expensive item, will this be shown on the Schedule of Payments?
The schedule of payments now includes a section which shows the number and value of expensive items which were dispensed during the month, which have an item value of £100 or more. The prices quoted on the schedule of payments are the basic price of the quantity prescribed/dispensed and do not include any additional fees or adjustments due to broken bulk claims.
Back
DOWNLOADS: Some documents are available in PDF format, you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later for viewing which can be downloaded from the Adobe Website
DOWNLOADS: Some documents are available in ‘Microsoft Word’ format. If you do not have Microsoft Word, you can read these forms by downloading the free 'Word Viewer'. This program can be downloaded at the Microsoft website