The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has added eight more products to category H which will be effective from September.
It’s the second set of products to be moved from category C to the new category following the first set of 11 products moved in March when the category H was introduced.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said it will “continue to monitor the impact of any changes following the move to category H”.
CPE reiterated that it “strongly objected” to the DH’s proposals to move “all eligible multi-source category C products” into category H in a “phased approach” as it said “many are not appropriate or suitable for entry”.
Read more: ‘Baffled’ and ‘concerning’: Opposition to new tariff change
It objected to the changes in January because of “the wider challenges pharmacies are facing” and how it could “disrupt the already turbulent medicines supply chain”.
“Currently, over 100 products in Category C appear to meet DHSC’s entry criteria for Category H,” CPE said.
“We have urged DHSC to take a cautious approach with moving these to Category H.”
The reimbursement prices will be published in the September drug tariff, and the eight products are:
- Alfuzosin 10mg modified-release tablets
- Diclofenac 100mg suppositories
- Felodipine 10mg modified-release tablets
- Felodipine 2.5mg modified-release tablets
- Felodipine 5mg modified-release tablets
- Fluticasone furoate 27.5micrograms/dose nasal spray
- Nicotine 7mg/24hours transdermal patches
- Sodium fluoride 0.05% mouthwash sugar free
Opposition
Category H was originally proposed by the DH in a 2019 consultation on drug reimbursement reforms, and in December it announced the new category would be introduced to part VIIIA of the drug tariff in March, as set out in the 2025/26 funding settlement.
The government said at the time it hopes category H will “improve medicine margin arrangements” as it moves products with more than one supplier into the new category with the price set using information from suppliers.
Read more: Govt proposes regulation changes for ‘fairer’ pharmacy payback
CPE said the DH wants to “set reimbursement prices this way” to “better reflect the actual purchase prices of these products” and “support fairer distribution of medicine margin”.
In January, the Independent Pharmacies Association chief Dr Leyla Hannbeck said the “surprising announcement” is “deeply concerning and it will have a further impact on community pharmacies’ cashflow and margin”.
National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg said introducing category H is “more evidence” that the pharmacy contract is “fundamentally broken” and adds “further layers of complication to an already unfair system that is not fit for purpose”.
Read more: ‘Real economic peril’, CPE warns Kinnock in ‘uncompromising’ letter
It comes as a consultation document published in February revealed government proposals to expanding “the scope of data collection” to be able to ask for “routine quarterly data” on products, including for category H.
In January, CPE chief executive Janet Morrison warned previous pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock in an “uncompromising letter” that the category H introduction was “another blow” that further destabilises medicines supply.
