PSNC released initial details of the scheme – which will officially begin on September 1 – yesterday (August 12). The details of the allocation of points to the quality domains will be published in the September 2021 Drug Tariff, along with further information about the scheme, PSNC said on its website.

COVID-19 vaccines, weight management and inhalers

Pharmacies participating in the 2021/22 PQS will be asked to produce an “action plan to actively promote COVID-19 vaccinations, particularly in Black, Asian and minority ethnic and low uptake communities”.

It comes as NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) invited all pharmacies in England, including those with a “low capacity site”, to express an interest in delivering the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme last month.

The other key criteria that will be in the new PQS are:

• Identifying people who would benefit from weight management advice and onward referral
• Training regarding health inequalities
• Training to improve skills on the provision of remote consultations
• An anticoagulant audit to enhance patient safety
• Engagement with PCNs to increase uptake within their population of flu vaccinations
• Checking inhaler technique and encouraging the return of unwanted and used inhalers for disposal to protect the environment.

As in previous years, funding for the upcoming PQS remains at £75 million, as it was set in the five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.

Contractors will be able to claim an aspiration payment for the scheme, in advance of their full declaration, “later this year”, PSNC said.

A “key win” for the PSNC was reducing the scope of this year’s PQS so that the estimated costs and time required to complete the criteria will now be below those originally proposed by NHSE&I.

“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 period for the sector,” it added.

PSNC director of NHS services Alastair Buxton  commented that the scheme “is now a standard fixture in the community pharmacy contract, providing the sector with an excellent opportunity to show our commitment to patients, further develop our clinical practice and be rewarded for providing high quality care.”

Details released now for “head start” on preparation

PSNC noted that discussions on the PQS formed part of the ongoing, wider negotiations on the third year of the five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.

However, “given that the scheme is now due to begin in a matter of weeks, PSNC pressed for the details to be released now to give contractors a head start on preparation”.

Mr Buxton said that, “by pushing government for the release of these details ahead of other year three arrangements, we were seeking to give contractors more time to get going with the scheme, but we also hope that news on the rest of the negotiations will be published shortly, once internal government processes are complete.”