Independent pharmacists should consider trialling their enhanced services for free to gather evidence and prove their worth to potential commissioners, Alliance Healthcare commercial healthcare director Mark Stephenson has said.

"When we've started a lot of our services for independents, manufacturers [and] the NHS, we've done all of it for free initially. I know a lot of people in business say that's mad but, actually, you've got to prove yourself," Mr Stephenson said at a summit held by Omega Pharma on Wednesday (May 15).

"I wouldn't do it for too long but if you're confident you've got a really good service that's right for the locality, sometimes a small trial where you prove it and do it for free... works," he added.

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	Pharmacist Amish Patel, owner of Hodgson's Pharmacy in Kent, agreed that contractors should consider offering free services for a short period of time for the purpose of data collection.

"I think there has to be limit. They've got to be short term and it has to be made out to the CCGs at the preliminary meeting that we'll do the data collection for free, but thereafter it will be with a charge attached to it," he told C+D.

Pharmacists could try to link their free service to MURs and NMS so that they still received some payment for it, Mr Patel added.

Clinical commissioning boards (CCGs) and health and wellbeing boards (HWBs) took over the commissioning of services including minor ailments, smoking cessation and sexual health on April 1 when the NHS reforms took effect.

Mr Stephenson forecast a period of inertia for up to a year while commissioners worked out how they were going to pay for services.

Pharmacists needed to be careful that they didn't give up during this period, but push for their services for be commissioned, he added.