Community pharmacists could be rewarded for meeting quality standards to ensure the sector is "delivering the outcomes the NHS needs", PSNC has revealed.

The negotiating body was already discussing with the Department of Health the use of quality markers in funding because, it said, pharmacy would not be excluded from the NHS drive to improve quality services.  

"We know that community pharmacy can and does deliver high-quality services to its patients, so the real challenge is going to be demonstrating that quality and the outcomes being achieved to commissioners on an ongoing basis," PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton told C+D.

"The real challenge is going to be demonstrating that quality and the outcomes being achieved to commissioners on an ongoing basis" Alastair Buxton, PSNC

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"The use of quality markers is something that PSNC is already discussing... and was reflected in the data capture requirements introduced for the NMS and targeted MURs last year," he explained. "These were an example of a move designed to ensure that pharmacy is delivering the outcomes the NHS needs it to, and that funding rewards this." The comments came after Community Pharmacy Scotland announced a fortnight ago that pharmacies would face penalties for failing to meet quality standards as part of a shake-up of payments for its chronic medication service.

And the new NHS environment was likely to place an increasing emphasis on quality, with funding no longer being a numbers game, said NHS Alliance chair and GP Mike Dixon.

"As the financial tightening continues, expect increased quality, capitation-type funding, and anything that encourages demand – including various numbers games – will be increasingly reigned in," Dr Dixon told C+D.

The comments were echoed by Nick de Bois, Conservative MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for primary care and public health, who said the NHS "shouldn't be so obsessed by price, but by quality".

Pharmacists cautiously welcomed the push towards outcomes, but stressed that any new system must recognise workload volumes and remain financially viable.

"I think there needs to be a balance to incentivise people to perform to a high quality and volume," said North-East London LPC secretary Hemant Patel. "Numbers are important, but if quality is poor they shouldn't be paid."

A stronger focus on quality could also put an end to pressure to perform services "just to get the money", said Raj Jain, pharmacist at WR Evans (Chemist) Ltd t/a Manor Pharmacy.

But he stressed that any new system would have to be diligently monitored and financially viable.