The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced adjustments to the reimbursement rates for several Aptamil products dispensed earlier this
year, following a pricing error that left pharmacies out of pocket.
The changes, which apply to products dispensed between January and April 2024, come after Community Pharmacy England (CPE) raised concerns about discrepancies
in the pricing data used by the NHS.
The issue stemmed from recent price increases by Nutricia Ltd, the manufacturer of Aptamil, which were not reflected in the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and
Devices (dm+d).
To address the shortfall, the DHSC has retrospectively increased the reimbursement prices for the following Aptamil products:
- Aptamil Anti-Reflux powder (800g): From £14.29 to £16.08
- Aptamil Comfort milk (800g): From £14.29 to £16.08
- Aptamil First milk powder (200ml): From £0.92 to £1.06
- Aptamil Follow On milk (200ml): From £0.92 to £1.06
- Aptamil Lactose Free powder (400g): From £7.70 to £8.39
These changes, effective from January 2024, are intended to ensure that pharmacies are appropriately reimbursed for the cost of these products.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will introduce new arrangements for the setting of Drug Tariff Category A reimbursement prices from April 2024.
Driven by ministers, DHSC's decision aims to equalise access to margin on Category A medicines and it's part of a series of drug reimbursement reforms proposed by
the department following a public consultation in 2019.
Currently, prices of medicines in Category A are subject to monthly adjustment. From 1 April 2024, these will be updated quarterly based on sales and volume data
obtained by DHSC under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018. The transition will conclude in July 2025 when the reimbursement prices will be exclusively determined by the new method.
Advance notice for contractors regarding the 'new arrangements' has been outlined on the NHSBSA website.
However, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) did not support the introduction of the changes at this time as pharmacies are currently grappling with "wider challenges"
and there is uncertainty about the potential impact of these changes on the already "turbulent" medicines supply chain