The COVID-19 pandemic delivery service is due to end on July 1, but it is expected that the government will “remain in place” until the end of the month, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said yesterday (June 22).

The negotiator expects that NHS England & NHS Improvement “will write to pharmacy contractors in the next few days to confirm that the provisions for the pandemic delivery service will remain in place” until July 31.

It comes following health secretary Matt Hancock’s announcement that shielded patients will be allowed to gather in groups of up to six people outdoors and can form a “support bubble” with another household from July 6.

From August 1, shielding patients will no longer be advised to do so, and the government’s support package for this group will run until the end of July.

The pandemic delivery service

The pandemic delivery service contractually obliges pharmacy contractors to ensure that people who have been advised by the government to shield by self-isolating at home receive their medicines, including delivering them where necessary.

In return, contractors can claim a monthly allowance “aligned to the banding used for the transition payment”, plus £5 per delivery and an allowance for VAT.

The payments come from funding that is separate to the community pharmacy global sum.

The pandemic delivery service initially was met with criticism that pharmacists may beheld responsible in the instance that a volunteer doesn't deliver the correct medicine to a patient.