The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) delay to retention fees payment changes will be “to the detriment” of Northern Irish pharmacists, the pharmacy union said yesterday (May 12).
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) said that after it met with the NI negotiator “last year…it was agreed that the regulator would offer the option to pay annual retention fees in quarterly direct debit payments” from “June 2024”.
It added that at the time, a PDA survey found that 80% of its NI members “would opt to pay in instalments if this option were available”.
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But now the option is set to be delayed until “at least the retention year 2025/26” due to “the need for legislative amendment”, the PDA added.
“The PDA is disappointed that the PSNI has been unable to get all factors in place to introduce instalment payments this year,” it said.
“Unfortunately, many pharmacists, particularly those working less than full-time hours or on maternity leave, may have budgeted according to the PSNI’s original statement of intent,” it added.
Last year, the PDA’s poll found that “on average, the fees accounted for 23% of a pharmacist’s take-home pay for one month”.
“Significant amount of work”
Commenting on the delay, the PSNI said that it has “undertaken a significant amount of work to bring about the functional changes to enable payments to be made by instalments”.
“But unfortunately it also requires legislative change to take effect,” it added.
It said that it is “continuing to progress this matter to ensure we have the necessary regulations in place to allow for such payments to be made in 25/26”.
“We understand that instalments are a preferred method of payment for many of our registrants,” it added.
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It also announced that the fees would remain unchanged for the “eighth consecutive year”, a move that the PDA said its “welcomes”.
Meanwhile, last week the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DH) unveiled plans for pharmacies to treat six new conditions, offer two new services and run various pilots in its community pharmacy strategic plan .
