The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) this week (March 31) announced that antidepressants will be added to the new medicine service (NMS) under the 2025/26 funding deal.
The new contract will see the NMS expanded to cover depression from October as part of “the government’s agenda to shift the focus of care from hospitals into the community”, the DH said.
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The negotiator said that “there will be no mandatory training related to the addition of the new therapeutic area to the service”.
“But a related training programme on consulting with people with mental health problems will be included in the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS),” it added.
“Convenient support”
The DH said that the move, which will give patients with depression access to “convenient support at pharmacies when they are prescribed antidepressants”, will “boost mental health support in the community”.
It added that the service will “not only improve access for patients but also free up GP time and cut waiting lists”.
The expansion “recognises the value delivered for patients in effectively managing their medication, increasing the scope of the potential offer pharmacies may provide”, it said.
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The change “has significant support from stakeholders within pharmacy”, according to CPE.
NHS England (NHSE) revealed in 2021 that it was considering expanding the NMS to include depression as a new therapeutic area and in September 2022, the pharmacy negotiator agreed that the expansion would take place over the following 18 months.
But NHSE revealed in October 2023 that “fewer” patients had taken up a pilot of the service than expected – although it said that the expansion could still take place “in the near future”.
New payment structure
Meanwhile, the payment structure for the NMS has been “simplified” to a split fee of £14 for each intervention or follow up consultation provided to the patient from April 1 as part of the new contract.
CPE explained that the change “removes the current, complex fee structure” and “recognises the difficulty in reaching some patients for follow up consultations”.
“Later in 2025, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will amend the manage your service (MYS) module” so that pharmacies can “separately” claim for the number of intervention and follow up consultations completed, it said.
Read more: BREAKING: New 2025 CPCF funding deal - uplift revealed
But until then, pharmacy owners need to claim the total number of consultations via the portal, it added.
The NMS launched in 2011 to support patients with long-term conditions and improve their medicines adherence when prescribed a new medicine.
Read more: New Pharmacy First cash, bands and thresholds agreed
And C+D last week revealed that thanks to a new “access record” function, pharmacists can now see patients’ GP record data on medications, investigations and observations - including for the NMS.
The reforms are part of a raft of changes announced in the new funding deal – including a retrospective funding increase of £106m for 2024/25 to £2.698bn and an increase to £3.073bn for 2025/26.
Check the C+D site for the latest coverage on this developing story
