The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called for immediate intervention by Health Secretary Neil Gray to compensate pharmacies left in financial
chaos due to flaws in Scotland's new pharmacy payment system.
Introduced last year, the system was designed to streamline payments to pharmacies, dispensing doctors, and medical appliance suppliers. However, the NPA, which
represents independent pharmacies across the UK, reported that many pharmacies were facing repeated shortfalls in expected funding under the system.
Some pharmacies have encountered discrepancies of tens of thousands pounds due to errors in the Data Capture Validation & Pricing process introduced by NHS National
Services Scotland.
In other cases, NHS Boards have clawed back money from pharmacies at short notice, following processing errors that had initially resulted in an overpayment.