Community Pharmacy England (CPE) yesterday (March 31) revealed that requirements around the “bundling” of the hypertension case-finding service (HCFS), the pharmacy contraception service (PCS) and Pharmacy First services have been changed as part of the new contract arrangements.
While it had previously been announced that contractors would have to provide all three services in order to receive a fixed monthly payment from March 31, CPE has now said that it has agreed to “a phased introduction of ‘bundling’ requirements”.
Read more: New Pharmacy First cash, bands and thresholds agreed
To receive the monthly Pharmacy First payment, CPE said that pharmacies “will need to be registered to provide the PCS and HCFS” as well as achieving “the relevant volume of clinical pathway consultations” from June.
Then from October, they must also deliver “at least one” ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) provision per month.
Read more: Funding breakdown: Write-offs, service payments and activity fees
And “from March 2026, a specified number of contraception consultations – to be agreed by CPE, DH and NHSE in due course – will also need to be provided each month,” the negotiator added.
Some £215 million has been secured to enable the Pharmacy First service to “continue to grow” as part of the new pharmacy funding deal announced yesterday – which includes an increase in fees and a new “banded approach” to fixed monthly payments.
Rules “will not apply to DSPs”
Meanwhile, CPE revealed that “the above requirements related to registration to provide the HCFS and the provision of at least one ABPM per month will not apply to distance selling pharmacies (DSPs)”.
It explained that this is due to regulatory changes announced in the contract, which will no longer allow DSPs “to provide advanced and enhanced services to patients on the pharmacy premises” from October 2.
Read more: Just 13% of two-year Pharmacy First budget spent in 8 months
The government has “also pledged to review delivery and capping of Pharmacy First and other services”, CPE added.
And NHSE “has undertaken a clinical review of the clinical pathways”, with updated pathways to be published “shortly”, according to the DH.
Check the C+D site for the latest coverage on this developing story
