Contractors have called for legal action to be taken against NHS Prescription Services (NHS PS) following the latest revelations about the scale of underpayments being caused by pricing errors.

In the latest twist, an analysis by Avicenna this week found that 65 of its members had been underpaid by almost £310,000 between March 2009 and April 2011.

Avicenna members found to have been underpaid called on contractors to join forces to challenge the paymaster.

"It may be possible for pharmacy owners to form a group and bring a case" David Reissner, Charles Russell

Contractors underpaid £310,000 following NHS pricing       errors NHS Prescription Services ‘unfit for purpose' following       underpayments More than 400 pharmacies suspect they have been       underpaid by more than £750

Sushma Shah, of Aldermans Pharmacy in London, asked: "There are so many contractors fighting individual battles, why will they not stand up together to fight for money that we have rightly earned?" Others have also called for strong measures, with Malcolm Fagelman, pharmacist at Swift Chemists in Sheffield, asking: "How can this scandalous underpayment situation continue without the matter being brought before the court for judicial review?"

The calls echoed comments made earlier this year, when Umesh Modi, partner at accountancy firm Silver Levene, said he believed "there is a case for class action against the NHS PS".

David Reissner, partner at law firm Charles Russell, said that a judicial review, used to deal with the unlawful decisions of public bodies, would be an "unusual" step to take in a claim relating to underpayments, but was "not impossible".

"However, this may be a sledgehammer to crack a nut and, in any event, judicial review proceedings must normally be brought within three months," he explained. If legal action were to be taken, Mr Reissner suggested contractors could sue PCTs to recover lost monies.

"It may be possible for pharmacy owners to form a group and bring a case," he added.

Jamie Gill, a solicitor at Ansons, agreed that a judicial review would not be the most suitable route to go down to recover losses. "I think that a group contractual civil claim is a more suitable course of action," he told C+D.