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The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has announced that the new Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) for this year will officially begin on October 10. From previous scheme £75m funding is also available and contractors will be able to claim an 'Aspiration payment' if they wish to, later this year. PSNC, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have agreed the arrangements for the 2022/23 PQS, as well as those for the 2023/24 PQS, with a focus on supporting recovery from Covid-19 and wider national health priorities. The committee said: "In our negotiations on the scheme, PSNC has managed to reduce the scope of this year's PQS so that the estimated contractor costs and time required to complete the criteria will be below those associated with the original NHS proposals for the scheme." "A further reduction in scope has also been agreed due to the delayed start of the 2022/23 PQS. PSNC hopes that this, along with arguing for more realistic targets across the scheme, will help reduce the impact on contractor workload, at what continues to be a very busy and pressured period for the sector."

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has reminded community pharmacy contractors to start working on the quality criteria if they intend to meet the Respiratory domain of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2022/23. For respiratory domain, community pharmacy contractors  must start working towards inhaler waste management; use of a spacer in patients aged 5-15 years; and personalised asthma action plans, from today (10 October). Resources are also available to support contractors with meeting the above criteria on the PQS hub page. PSNC also informed that contractors are also now able to make a claim for an Aspiration payment for the PQS 2022/23 on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA)  Manage Your Service (MYS) portal. "The Aspiration payment is optional; if contractors do not want to claim it, it will not impact on the contractor's ability to claim a PQS payment during the declaration period. There is also no requirement to have claimed for a previous PQS to claim an Aspiration payment for PQS 2022/23.

To ease pressure on community pharmacies, the deadline to meet the requirements of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme will be extended, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced today (December 15). This follows an agreement reached between the negotiator and the NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Recognising the challenges faced by pharmacies and their contribution towards the Covid-19 vaccination programme, following additional changes have been agreed upon: Contractors will not be required to complete the Community Pharmacy Patient Questionnaire for 2021/2022; The requirement for pharmacy teams to complete a national audit (intended to be on valproate) in 2021/22 will be waived; and The requirement for pharmacy teams to complete a contractor-chosen clinical audit in 2021/22 will be waived.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has reminded community pharmacy contractors that they have two weeks left to claim an Aspiration payment for the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2022/23. The window for claiming the payment will close at 11.59pm on 4 November 2022. "The Aspiration payment is optional; if contractors do not want to claim it, it will not impact on the contractor's ability to claim a PQS payment during the declaration period. There is also no requirement to have claimed for a previous PQS to claim an Aspiration payment for PQS 2022/23," said PSNC.

Community pharmacies in England will have to go through a clinical audit focusing on valproate, following an agreement reached between the PSNC and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I). The audit, a part of NHS contractual requirements, aims to reduce the potential harm caused by taking valproate during pregnancy. The 2021/22 audit will be based on the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) audit, allowing contractors to close the cycle by re-auditing their practice. NHSE&I recently shared the results of the PQS 2019/20 valproate audit. Around 5.6 per cent of the 12,068 girls or women of childbearing potential who participated in the audit said they were not advised in line with the MHRA Drug Safety Update 2018 relating to the potential impact on an unborn child.

The Department of Health and Social Care has updated the list of community pharmacies eligible for the Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) and approved 43 cases out of 63 applications, bringing the the total number of eligible pharmacies in England to 1,445. Earlier this year, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) invited community pharmacy contractors to apply for a review if they believed there were any inaccuracies in relation to pharmacy premises addresses or unforeseen circumstances affecting access, such as a permanent roadblock. Submitted applications were reviewed by the relevant NHSE&I regional pharmacy contract team, and determined by the relevant pharmaceutical services regulations committees (PSRC). Due to the workload pressures seen over winter, the review deadline was extended, giving contractors applying for a review two full months to complete their applications. This also pushed back the announcement of the outcome of the review, but where an application has been successful, PhAS payments will be backdated to the start of the scheme.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has confirmed that the community pharmacy contractors are 'not required' to undertake a contractor-chosen or an NHS England determined clinical audit in 2023/24. "A clinical audit on anticoagulants is included in the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2023/24. If contractors choose to not participate in PQS, and therefore do not complete the anticoagulant clinical audit, there is still no requirement to complete two clinical audits in 2023/24," said PSNC. "The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have also committed to consider, during 2023/24, the removal of the requirement for a contractor-chosen clinical audit permanently."

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has asked the government and the NHS to give more support to all community pharmacies as they gear up for "an extremely challenging winter period." During talks with NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) last week, PSNC highlighted that contractors are already under pressure because of workforce crisis, capacity issues and escalated staffing costs. all these factors could pose a bigger challenge during the busy winter season, it said. Though PSNC supported the government's aim on booster vaccinations and approval of more pharmacy sites, it expressed concerns over the impact of the vaccination drive on all community pharmacies. To ease the pressure on pharmacies, the negotiator has sought additional support through regulatory measures, the removal of administrative burdens and changes to the current Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS).

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has urged community pharmacy to plan and ensure patients are able to access their prescription if they have to close in an emergency situation for a short period. It has prepared a guidance which can be undertaken by pharmacy in the event of a closure and the contractor's business can resume easily and effectively once the emergency has passed. In its guidance, PSNC has stated a few actions that can be taken by pharmacy in advance: Plan ahead - be ready before a closure is needed. Don't wait until your pharmacy needs to be closed before you consider how you will manage and what you can put in place to mitigate the impact. Make sure your business continuity plan is up to date and relevant to the current situation. For example, try not to rely on family and friends as part of your plan; if you're having to isolate because of infectious illness, your close contacts may need to do so as well. Ensure your SOPs are accurate, up to date and easy-to-find for someone completely unfamiliar with your pharmacy. Emergency numbers will be crucial. Normal, everyday business continuity issues are still going to arise and anyone on-site needs to know how to address them:

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee expects the next round of negotiations to set the arrangements for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2022/23 - Year 4 of the five-year CPCF deal, to begin soon. The negotiator held a meeting on November 24 and 25 to discuss the burning issues affecting the sector and to plan for upcoming negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I). It aims to complete these negotiations by April, allowing ample time for contractors to make arrangement prior to the beginning of the financial year. PSNC vice-chair, and independent contractor, Bharat Patel said the entire sector is worried about the "outlook for pharmacies as we head into a difficult winter," and is working to find solutions. He noted that PSNC "will be bringing proposals for additional funding and support, particularly around the treatment of 'walk-in' patients, to the table, along with a heavy dose of realism for government and the NHS about the current challenges in the sector." While expecting a difficult round of discussion with the government, Patel remained optimistic about a favourable outcome for pharmacies.

The tripartite negotiations to set the arrangements for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2022/23 - Year 4 of the five-year CPCF deal - have now begun, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said. The discussions, beginning ahead of the start of the financial year, are taking place between the PSNC and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I). It will cover issues related to service, funding and other arrangements for pharmacies in 2022/23, in line with the five-year CPCF deal. The three entities will also discuss the progress made to date, which has been partly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the recent joint Annual Review process, where PSNC raised serious concerns around the available capacity within community pharmacy.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has urged pharmacy contractors to use Manage Your Service (MYS) portal only for all monthly FP34C submissions. To secure access to earlier advance payments on 11 April 2022, the committee has advised pharmacy contractors to submit their claims for NHS pharmaceutical services delivered in March 2022 no later than 5 April 2022. PSNC said: "The Manage Your Service (MYS) portal is now the ONLY route available to contractors for all monthly FP34C submissions. From March 2022, contractors will no longer receive the paper FP34C submission document through the post. However, the NHSBSA will continue to post out red separators for contractors to submit relevant forms each month.

Considering the challenges being faced by pharmacies and involvement of their workforce in the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination programme, the requirement to report New Medicine Service (NMS) data for Quarters 3 and 4 of 2021/22 has been paused. This follows an agreement reached between the NHS England and NHS Improvement and Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC).

The commencement of the weight management campaign has been postponed from the scheduled date of January 4, 2022 due to delay in the delivery of the campaign resource packs, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) stated. After a new delivery date for the resource packs has been confirmed, PSNC will announce the new start date for the programme, which is the third mandated health campaign for 2021/22.