The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has today (August 30) published the pharmaceutical services directions – the documents that provide the legal basis for the flu service – which include some amendments to the original 2013 instructions.

PSNC said contractors that “fully meet the requirements” can now deliver the service from September 1.

For the first time this year, contractors are required to notify NHS England of their intention to provide the service through a portal on the NHS Business Services Authority website.

Pharmacists must complete this form in order to claim payments, PSNC stressed.

Alastair Buxton, director of NHS Services at PSNC, urged pharmacy teams to "really get behind" this year's flu service, "like they did last year, to show patients and the NHS just what community pharmacy is capable of", he added.

For more tips on how to achieve flu jab success this winter, watch here