PSNC has published a summary of the counter proposal it has made to the Department of Health in response to the government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond.
The counter proposal sets out how community pharmacy services, including an emergency supply of medicines service, could be used to generate the savings the NHS needs to make through pharmacy, without a cut in funding.
PSNC’s proposal includes plans that would enable pharmacies to make savings in the prescribing budget and to save on costs for out-of-hours GP services. PSNC has also proposed payments that would reward the provision of high quality pharmacy services, in response to the department’s aim to alter community pharmacy funding distribution mechanisms.
The counter proposal was made to offer a short-term alternative to the cuts proposed by the government; PSNC still believes that the service development proposals it made in February are the right way forward for community pharmacy, patients and the NHS, and we are working towards those in the medium to long term.
Further details of the counter proposal are outlined in PSNC Briefing 026/16: PSNC’s counter proposal to the Government’s plans for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond.
