As you will all know, the pharmacists have been negotiating their new contract for a considerable time now.   GPs will have a sense of deja vu as they read the following two items from dotpharmacy.com

Is it possible that the pharmacy and the GP negotiators all went to the same school of negotiating?   It rather looks as though the small community pharmacist is about to be clobbered, so to speak, in the same way as the GP.

Read on...........

Contract begins move towards clinical role

The new pharmacy contract is the start of a process of moving towards a more clinical role for community pharmacists, NPA chief executive John D’Arcy
has said.

It will strategically bind contractors into the NHS and create a framework for rewarding clinical services, Mr D’Arcy explained, and added that, over time, the balance between supply and clinical services will shift.

Mr D’Arcy said the NPA was fully supportive of PSNC and accepted that there had to be payment thresholds within the contract framework.

PSNC and LPC in contract row

PSNC is disputing a formula developed by North East London LPC to help contractors calculate how their future contract payments compare with present income.

PSNC head of finance Mike Dent said: “This contains a number of estimates and errors that might prompt contractors into making incorrect decisions.”

But the LPC said it produced the tool because PSNC had not provided contractors with a mechanism to work out if they would be better off under the new contract. The LPC said it had made “clear reference to the usefulness of the tool and inherent limitations”.

Roadshow gets down to nitty gritty

Contractors attending PSNC’s roadshows in Wales over the past week seemed positive about the new contract proposals, said Community Pharmacy Wales’s chief executive Peter Haydn Jones.

“Mostly they were seeking clarification of various issues and we were able to allay some of their concerns,” he said. About 120 contractors attended the roadshows in North Wales and mid and West Wales .

The contractors were concerned about issues affecting ESPS, but received assurance that CPW is working to resolve these issues. Others sought clarification on whether small pharmacies opening fewer than 40 hours a week would have to open for longer; it was suggested that LHBs would consider requests sympathetically.