The pharmacy negotiator today (August 29) announced that the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has imposed a frozen service fee for the upcoming NHS adult flu vaccination programme.
The pharmacy fee will remain at £9.58 – the same as that paid in the previous six flu seasons – following the DH’s “refusal to increase” it, CPE said.
Read more: Flu jab fees ‘still being considered’ as CPE reveals increase bid
“The proposed fee for the 2025/26 season was unacceptable to CPE and as we could not agree it, ministers took the decision to impose the fee on this occasion,” the negotiator added.
It said that the “very disappointing decision” was “driven by the available budget that NHS England (NHSE) holds for vaccination services”.
Pharmacies will be able to vaccinate pregnant women from September 1 under the NHS flu jab programme, with vaccination of other adult cohorts to begin from October 1.
“Significantly increased costs”
CPE stressed that costs for pharmacy owners have “increased significantly” since the last flu jab fee rise, including “cost inflation of over 22% before sector-specific increases in wage costs” and recent increases in the minimum wages and National Insurance (NI) contributions.
“Community pharmacies play an important part in the annual flu vaccination campaign, vaccinating millions of people” and reducing the “impact of seasonal illness on other parts of the NHS” such as hospitals, it said.
“It is clear that costs for pharmacy owners have increased significantly over recent years and these should be reflected in the funding for the service,” it added.
Read more: Pharmacies to trial children’s flu vaccine service from October
A DH spokesperson stressed that pharmacies are “integral to the fabric of our communities” and that the government wants them to “play a bigger role as we shift care out of hospitals and into the community”.
“We have given an extra £617 million to support the sector and provide patients with greater services closer to home,” they said.
The spokesperson told C+D that the fee paid to GP practices for flu jab delivery is set at a higher level in recognition of the additional task of call-recall to proactively reach out to eligible patients, which pharmacies do not currently offer.
Flu latest
CPE last month revealed that the fees for delivery of flu vaccinations in 2025/26 had not yet been decided by ministers, despite the publication of the service specification for the pharmacy advanced service.
It said at the time that it had made a “submission of an evidence-based case for an increase in the fee”.
And it highlighted a “small number” of amendments made to this year’s service specification compared to last year.
Read more: Flu: ‘No changes’ to eligibility as autumn start dates announced
Meanwhile, CPE last month announced that community pharmacies will be able to deliver flu vaccinations to children aged two to three under a “one-season trial” of a new service from October.
Pharmacy owners who choose to take part will again be paid £9.58 for each vaccine administered to an eligible child.
