PSNC seeks remedial action on failing NHS England supplier
The Pharmaceutical Negotiating Services Committee (PSNC) has written to NHS England to express its “dismay and disappointment” about the “poor service” that it says has left contractors without “vital” support for their businesses.
PSNC wrote to NHS England this week (July 25) to complain about Capita, the company paid by NHS England to deliver support services to pharmacies and general practices.
PSNC says it has been forced to “escalate concerns” from local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) about failures by Capita, which offers services including delivering controlled stationery such as electronic prescription service (EPS) tokens, as well as processing drug tariff payments and market entry paperwork (see box).
Capita told C+D that the company had faced "challenges", but was "working closely" with PSNC to address the issues.
Capita won a tender to provide the services in September 2015, and introduced an online portal for ordering controlled stationery for pharmacies, which soon experienced “teething problems”, PSNC told C+D.
"Enough is enough"
Gordon Hockey, PSNC director of operations and support, told C+D that, 10 months later, “enough was enough”.
“Having received many reports of problems with the delivery of controlled stationery, we are now starting to see the same with market entry provisions,” he added.
Mr Hockney said that the service levels provided by Capita are “unacceptable”. He added that PSNC is “very concerned that the problems are starting to have an adverse effect on the delivery of community pharmacy services and the care of patients”.
The business services provider has encouraged pharmacists who are experiencing problems to contact them by email only. Many pharmacists have been unable to get through to support staff by telephone, PSNC says.
The negotiator has written to NHS England to gain assurances that any losses resulting from delays relating to Capita’s management of market entry provisions will be “dealt with speedily and fairly by NHS England”. Its letter suggests that Capita lacks sufficient numbers of appropriately trained staff.
It also wants to make sure that pharmacists “are not penalised” if they are unable to fulfil their terms of service “due to lack of controlled stationery”.
PSNC is asking for NHS England to “take action to ensure processes for the delivery of controlled stationery are fit for purpose”, and to prevent Capita taking on any further work involving community pharmacy “until they are able to manage the current work”.
Capita response
A spokesperson for Capita told C+D the company is undertaking “a major transformation of primary care services, from a fragmented system to one that is standardised, effective and efficient”.
“Given the scale and complexity of transformation there will undoubtedly be challenges,” the spokesperson said, and added that Capita would work with PSNC and NHS England “to ensure progress continues”.
What complaints have there been about Capita's services?
The PSNC letter set out a number of areas in which both contractors and LPCs have been experiencing poor service from Captia. These include:
- Serious delays in delivery of vital controlled stationery;
- Staff who are confused and lack knowledge about practices and processes; and
- Delays, incomplete letters and failures to issue the required notifications around market entry provisions.
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Have you experienced problems with services provided by Capita?