The government has extended the new medicine service (NMS) for another three months, although the long-term future of the service remains in doubt.  

Pharmacists can continue to recruit patients for the service until December 31, and will be guaranteed payment if the final intervention is completed by the end of February, PSNC said yesterday (September 16).  

The negotiating body said it was still in discussions with NHS England about the longer term future of the service, which is yet to be fully evaluated.

"The fact that the NHS does not want to stop this service is very positive" Alastair Buxton, head of NHS services, PSNC	More on the future of the NMS Government grants NMS six-month stay of execution Further evaluation delay leaves PSNC fighting for       NMS extension Talks on further NMS extension still ongoing, says       PSNC
	"We are working in a resource-starved health service but the fact that the NHS shares our concerns and does not want to stop this service, which has shown such promising outcomes so far, is very positive," said PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton.

This is the second extension of the NMS this year. In March, the government put up £20 million to extend the service for six months as it awaited the full evaluation, which Nottingham University was originally due to publish this summer.  

In June the deadline for the evaluation was pushed back to February 2014 because researchers were struggling to recruit patients. The researchers did reveal at the time that they had received positive feedback on the service so far from patients and pharmacists.  

The government commissioned Nottingham University to conduct the NMS evaluation in 2011. The research team plans to stop recruiting patients, pharmacists and GPs this month and start fully analysing the data in December.  

Last week, pharmacists on the C+D website voiced concerns about the delays in reaching a decision on the future of the service.  

"Why doesn't PSNC shout a bit more rather than asking politely? Yet again the Department of Health is faffing and letting us hang on," said community pharmacist Kevin Western.  

Community pharmacist Adina Howard called for a simpler process of recruiting patients for the evaluation to speed up the results.