Home Pharmacies Dispensing Low Volumes of Prescriptions
This section of the site contains detailed information on the measures that were negotiated to support pharmacies dispensing low volumes of prescriptions.
Establishment Payment Volume Threshold
In 2005/6 the threshold to receive the Establishment Payment was 2000 items. Included in the new contract arrangements was an annual revision of the volume threshold level.
In October 2006, the Committee and the Department of Health agreed to adjust the volume threshold by +3%. This is well below the average prescription volume increase which was 5.9% in 2005/6. The threshold was therefore increased from 2000 to 2060 items per month for entitlement to receive Establishment payments and the higher practice payments.
In October 2007 the threshold was increased by 3% to 2120 items per month. In October 2008, the threshold was increased by 3% to 2180 items per month.
In turn, the ceiling for eligibility for the protected professional allowance was increased to 2059 items per month in 2006/7 and 2119 for 2007/8. The Protected Professional Allowance ceased on the 31st March 2008.
Protected Professional Allowance
The Protected professional Allowance was in place for the first three years of the New Contract (until 31st March 2008). The arrangements applied to pharmacies that dispensed more than 1,100 items but less than the threshold to receive the Establishment Payment. Only pharmacies that received the 'payment for additional professional services' in the year ending 31 March 2005 were eligible to receive the payments.
Payments All Pharmacies Receive
All pharmacies will receive the Practice Payment. Payment levels can be found in Part IVA of the Drug Tariff and in the Essential Services Section of the site.
In addition, all pharmacies receive the repeat dispensing allowance, transitional payments and may be eligible to receive the ETP/IT payments.
Exit payments
For pharmacies with low dispensing volumes that wished to close, PSNC secured agreement to limited exit payments. Pharmacies had the option of relinquishing their contract and receiving the Global Sum professional allowance they would have earned had they remained open for a further year subject to a minimum payment of £10,000. Conditions applied. Detailed information can be found in Part XI of the Drug Tariff.
This option was only available for the first year of the new pharmacy contract.
Local Pharmaceutical Services
PSNC has discussed with the Department of Health and the NHS Confederation the development of an LPS for low volume pharmacies. LPS Regulations which came into force in April 2006 allow a PCT to develop LPS arrangements, and these could include arrangements that meet local patients needs, with an additional source of funding to support the low volume pharmacy. More information is available in the LPS Section of the Site.
In 2005/2006, pharmacies that were part of the Essential Small Pharmacy Scheme in England had the opportunity to apply to transfer to new arrangements, a Local Pharmaceutical Services contract for Essential Small pharmacies. More information is available in the LPS Section of the Site.
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