The NPA and Numark are fielding calls over changes to methadone reimbursement, with some contractors being "very concerned" over how the new system will affect their businesses.

The NPA told C+D that members were questioning the sustainability of their methadone services under the new system, estimated to cost some businesses as much as 90,000 a year. And Numark said contractors were reporting fears the reimbursement would leave them "worse off", despite PSNC pledging to ensure overall funding was not "adversely affected" in the long term.

"Some pharmacy owners are very concerned about the impact on the sustainability of the service," NPA's Leyla Hannbeck	Contractor considers legal challenge over methadone payment changes Department of Health defends changes to methadone payments Methadone changes could cost pharmacists up to £90,000 a year
	Leyla Hannbeck, head of information services at the NPA, stressed that pharmacists should be given enough time to prepare for the changes, which will affect any prescriptions submitted from July 1 onwards.

"Some pharmacy owners are very concerned about the impact on the sustainability of the service and hence their patients," Ms Hannbeck told C+D. "Some have invested heavily to ensure that they deliver high-quality care to substance misusers, and this should be recognised and adequately recompensed."

But Numark managing director John D'Arcy argued there was little contractors could do to prepare for the new system. "It's not a case of putting in new shelving - it's ripping money out of your business, so you can't prepare for that. If someone said they were going to cut your pay by 10 per cent, what could you do?" he asked.

Meanwhile, contractors argued that PSNC and the government had underestimated the impact of the new reimbursement arrangements. David Sharp of D&R Sharp Chemists, Doncaster, said the system could see businesses losing "hundreds, if not thousands of pounds", stressing that pharmacists should have been consulted before the changes were agreed.

The comments were echoed by community pharmacist Andrew Moule, who said he would either have to reduce staff hours or make redundancies as a result. "The fee needs to be much higher to allow us to continue to provide the service we provide," he posted on the C+D website. "I will lose tens of thousands of pounds and yet be expected to do the same amount of work."

And others said they would "fully support" Martin Bennett of Wicker Pharmacy in his plans to take legal action over the changes. "I think it is time pharmacy contractors all got together to sue the relevant authority to show them that we will not allow continuous squeezing of our funds," posted pharmacy staff member Tariq Iqbal. "Enough is enough."

PSNC pledged to monitor spend on methadone to ensure overall funding was not "adversely affected" when it announced the changes on May 11. "If it appears that [there is] a significant reduction in fee spend, we will submit this information to the Department of Health (DH) for consideration," it said. The negotiating committee also told C+D it was "continuing to consider and respond to contractors' concerns" on the matter.

Read the full details of the new methadone payment system.