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 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.
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:
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.
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.