Data from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), published yesterday (October 12), showed that spending for the CPCS and the new medicines service (NMS) had dramatically shot up between 2021/22 and 2022/23 – indicating an increased take-up.
The total NHS spend on the CPCS – for which community pharmacies receive £14 per completed consultation – jumped up by 81%, from £9.84m in 2021/22 to £17.8m 2022/23.
Read more: Only two-thirds of GPs referring to pharmacies via CPCS, minister reveals
And the total cost of drugs provided through the CPCS rose by 35% in just a year – with £3.12m-worth of drugs provided through the service in 2022/23 compared to £2.3m in the previous year.
Under the CPCS, patients are referred to a local pharmacy by their GP for a same-day appointment for the treatment of minor illnesses or urgent medicine supply.
However, take-up of the service has foundered since its November 2020 launch – much to pharmacists’ frustration – with MP Neil O’Brien revealing in April that just two-thirds of GPs were referring patients to pharmacies under the scheme.
Read more: CPCS referrals from GPs still a ‘slow burner’ due to COVID pressures, say LPCs
Meanwhile, the NHSBSA data revealed that spending on the NMS had also increased, with fees for the service rising 42% from £53.9 million in 2021/22 to £76.3m this year.
This was “in line” with the increase in NMSs provided, the NHSBSA noted, logging 2.8 million NMS claims in 2022/23, up 36% from the 2.1m claims recorded in 2021/22.
NMS fees vary between £20 and £28 “depending on the volume of prescriptions dispensed by a contractor and the number of NMSs undertaken”, according to the NHSBSA.
COVID drop-off
However, fees claimed by community pharmacies in England for COVID-19 vaccinations dropped off radically this year, the data showed, with the total cost to the NHS falling by 64% from £293m in 2021/22 to £106m in 2022/23.
Meanwhile, the total flu jab service fees paid to community pharmacies for the 2022/23 season remained stable at £48m compared with £46.5m the previous year, representing a 3% increase.
Read more: C+D Snapshot: Do pharmacists think five extra essential services are feasible?
The total cost of flu vaccines administered through pharmacies rose significantly over the year, up 24% from £49.8 to £61.8m.
The NHSBSA noted, however, that the average number of flu vaccines administered by each community pharmacy has increased dramatically since 2015/16 – from 83 per pharmacy that year to 519 in 2022/23.
Lowest number of “active community pharmacies”
Meanwhile, the NHSBSA also noted that “there were 11,414 active community pharmacies" in England in 2022/23, marking the lowest number of active community pharmacies since 2015/16.
According to a spokesperson for the NHSBSA, its numbers do not directly reflect the number of pharmacies in England, but rather the total number of sites that submitted prescriptions across the time period.
Read more: 'Pharmacy wastelands’: Over 200 net closures in 2023 so far, DH admits
As such, the NHSBSA’s reported number of community pharmacies is significantly higher than that published by NHS England (NHSE), which hosts its data on the NHSBSA’s website.
NHSE’s "pharmacy openings and closures" data shows "the numbers of pharmacies in England that are included on a pharmaceutical list” held by the commissioner.
Read more: David and Goliath: Small chains now run more pharmacies than large multiples
According to the latest data, published on Wednesday (October 11) to reflect numbers at the end of September, there were 10,757 community pharmacies including 393 distance contractors in England at the end of last month.
This is 657 fewer community pharmacies than those captured by the data published in today’s NHSBSA release.
C+D has reported extensively on the relentless march of pharmacy closures and the changing shape of the sector.
