Funding
4Following this week’s announcement of the long-awaited pharmacy funding deal, C+D has learned that contractors have already received the additional £106 million in retrospective funding for 2024/25.
0The government has announced an expansion to and fresh payment structure for the new medicine service (NMS) to “boost mental health support in the community”.
0The government has announced that the pharmacy quality scheme (PQS) will be “reinstated” in 2025/26 as part of the new funding deal but is “smaller than usual”.
3The new pharmacy funding deal has revealed incoming changes to the medicines margin, including plans for an “early entry” Category M process.
1The government has announced that pharmacies in England will be able to undergo an “application process” to change the days and times of their core opening hours to “better serve their patients”.
1Rules that would have required pharmacies to provide three services in order to qualify for a fixed monthly payment have been delayed by two months.
3Changes to the Pharmacy First service are set to come into force from June, while increased fees will be paid from today, as part of the new pharmacy contract.
2Reaction to the funding contract from pharmacy groups has been mixed, from demands for the CPE executive team to “immediately resign" to describing it as a “vital lifeline”.
5Details of the long-awaited pharmacy contract deal have revealed single activity fee uplifts, a one-off £193 million historic margin write-off and plans “to redesign the whole payment timetable”.
4Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has said that it “reluctantly accepted the final offer” of the long-awaited pharmacy funding deal, stressing that it is “not enough” to stabilise the sector.