While the fee per vaccination remains unchanged from its 2019-20 level of £9.58, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has agreed on additional funding with NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) that – “for this year only” – will be attached to the basic fee, it announced last week (September 11).

Contractors will receive an additional 50p per vaccination – money that will come from the transition funding pot – and up to £1 million of medicine margin to cover flu vaccinations “administered above the number in a normal year”. The additional medicine margin funding is on top of the £800m agreed under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, PSNC said.

“This means the combined value of fees paid per vaccination will be £10.08,” PSNC said in a statement last week (September 11).

Funding for off-site vaccinations

Contractors who obtain pre-authorisation from NHSE&I will also be able to claim up to £200 to hire a venue for off-site vaccinations – provided they deliver a minimum of 20 vaccinations from the site, PSNC said.

“When claiming for the cost of venue hire for the first-time, contractors can additionally claim a one-off payment of £200 for cold storage equipment,” PSNC added.

NHSE&I can only authorise a venue hire if it has been established that there is “no other venue that has already been paid for either very near or at the same place, at the same time, that the contractor could make use of”. NHSE&I will also need to verify that the contractor has enough supplies to vaccinate the expected number of attendees at the clinic and that the clinic does not “create over provision” in certain areas at a given time.

Contractors will also need to consider the venue “suitable for the provision of pharmaceutical services” and be “satisfied that they can meet General Pharmaceutical Council and COVID-19infection prevention control standards” to receive NHSE&I pre-authorisation, PSNC said.

“Pre-authorisation of payment for the cost of venue hire and cold storage will be given on a first come first served basis, from a finite budget,”, PSNC added.

When this year’s flu vaccination service started on September 1, remuneration details were not available as they were still being negotiated. However, PSNC said at the time that it was “pushing hard for an uplift to funding”.