The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is “really concerned” that Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) proposals to overhaul funding could remove “vital" financial protection for contractors.

The RPS called for pharmacists to be paid based on improvements to local health needs, rather than for services or dispensing volume, in a joint consultation with the National Association of Primary Care last week (August 12).

PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe said yesterday (August 17) that the negotiating body supports the “underlying principles” behind the proposals, but disagrees with the “apparent suggestion” that pharmacy should “abandon national provider-based commissioning”.

She also rejected RPS president Ash Soni’s claim that the sector is “strait-jacketed with a top-down contract”. A “strong national contract” is an “enabler rather than an inhibitor”, Ms Sharpe stressed.

“Far from being a straitjacket, the core contractual framework remains a vital protection for pharmacy owners. PSNC will battle to protect this principle,” Ms Sharpe said.

The “major changes” that the RPS suggested are “untested and unknown” and will not give contractors the confidence to invest in their businesses, she said.

PSNC did agree with the society that community pharmacists should become the “first port of call for people with symptoms”, and with its desire to align the pharmacy and GP contracts, Ms Sharpe added.

The RPS told C+D that it will not reply to individual views on its proposals "as they come in", but will publish a summary of all the responses it receives in November.

Wider support

NHS Alliance told C+D it supports “the evolution of the community pharmacy contract to reflect the development of improved services to patients”.

The primary care organisation's pharmacy lead Mark Robinson said it backs the development of closer working relationships between pharmacists and GPs, and there are already “contracting mechanisms” available to support this.

Sanjay Ganvir, director of the Green Light Pharmacy chain in London, said the sector needs to “embrace” the RPS’s proposals, but he admitted they might be “too radical for some”. 

“My prediction is in five years there won’t be an NHS pharmacy or GP contract, but a primary care contract,” he said.

Robbie Turner, chief executive of LPC consortium Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire, agreed that there is a “massive opportunity for the sectors to come together”. But it will “not be an easy task” because both professions “have a lot at risk”, he stressed.

The consultation – open to pharmacists, GPs and the public – closes on October 9. Response forms can be downloaded from the RPS website and sent to [email protected].

Do you have any concerns about the RPS's proposals? 

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