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PSD PaymentSchedule Layout Online Reporting

Patient Rights(Scotland) Act 2011

There is agreement between CPS and PSD that the current paper payment schedules are over-complicated and lack transparency. This situation has arisen in part due to the development of more complicated payment structures. Over the years PSD has found it necessary to incorporate more payments within its adjustment ...

In Vision 24 we provided you with some initial information on this new Act which was implemented from 1 April 2012. The Act raises the focus of patients’ rights and responsibilities and tries to encourage feedback positive and negative from patients on NHS services. A Patients’ Charter has also been introduced.

CPS understands that around 50% of contractors have signed up for the recently introduced online reporting system developed by the ePharmacy programme on behalf of PSD. The system allows contractors to view online pharmacy payments and activity reports in greater detail than ever before.

Read More : Page 4 Read More : Page 4 Read More : Page 4Martin Green

Chairman

Foreword

Our latest issue of Vision h i g h l i g h t s the changes that have been made to remuneration from October 2012 and then comments on

the direction of travel which may see further changes from April 2013. These changes have arisen due to two main drivers:

• The continued move to a capitation based model of payment facilitated by the introduction and partial delivery of CMS

• The Scottish Government’s desire to move away from transition. These payments have been in place now approaching eight years and it is time to review what works best.

I would like to reassure pharmacy contractors that any movement in our remuneration will have to deliver the same level of stable cash flow that transition has delivered for us over these past years. The increase in the value of remuneration being placed against CMS activity is in keeping with the roll out of the service. CPS will be continuing to press for all contractors to be able to access and supply medicines via serial prescriptions in the near future. I have not changed my opinion that all contractors must be given access to this element of CMS sooner rather than later to ensure we can progress together and no one receives what could be a very real or perceived competitive advantage.

At the end of last month the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) launched its new standards for registered pharmacies and over the next twelve months it will seek to prepare owners for their full implementation in October 2013. I raise this point with you as the GPhC will from then have the power to close a pharmacy that it considers to not be meeting these new standards and by implication be a risk to the public. This is of course the worst case scenario and in the vast majority of cases will be a last resort to the regulation of premises. As Chairman of your representative body, I wanted to draw this to your attention and to reassure you that CPS enjoys a positive working relationship with the regulator and will continue to liaise with it on your behalf.

Read More : Page 2

Parliamentary Update The recent Cabinet reshuffle of Scottish Government saw the longstanding Cabinet Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, give up her Health portfolio to be replaced by Alex Neil, MSP.

Read More : Page 3

GPhC Standards for registered pharmacies The General Pharmaceutical Council has now launched its new standards for Registered Pharmacies.

Read More : Page 3

Remuneration Restructuring - discussion for 2013/14Negotiations with SG on how remuneration might be restructured from April 2013 are at a very early stage.

Read More : Page 2

Remuneration Arrangements from 1 October 2012

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Remuneration Arrangements from 1 October 2012From 1 October 2012 the second phase of the migration out of transition has started, in line with the advance information given in the circular PCA(P)(2012)8 which was issued at the end of March. The changes to remuneration are outlined below and in the recent circular from Scottish Government (PCA(P)(2012)15:

1. The Community Migration Payment from October 2012 (introduced in October 2011 as part of the initial restructuring of the transitional payment) will reduce to 80.8% of the payment in place in September 2012.

2. The monthly pool for CMS Capitation Payments will double to £3M per month. Each contractor will now see their own monthly pool also double in value – if it was £1500 in September, from October it will be £3000. The maximum and minimum payments will stay at +/-10% but this means the impact will be double. For the example above the maximum and minimum tolerances will move from +/-£150 to +/- £300.

Contractors who open a new pharmacy after the 1st April 2012 will be subject to no maximum payment but will be subject to a minimum payment of £600 per pharmacy.

3. The Payment Supplement will remain unchanged.

4. The shadow fee and allowances for non-transition contractors have been amended to reflect the same changes in payment.

5. All other payments e.g. MAS and PHS will remain as before.

Before agreeing to this change Community Pharmacy Scotland considered carefully the effect on contractors of the changes introduced in October 2011. Contractors have been demonstrating increased registration and risk assessment activity and some NHS Boards are now actively moving to implement the availability of serial prescriptions beyond the early adopter pilots. Approximately 25% of pharmacies across Scotland are now electronically enabled to use serial prescriptions.

Information received each month allows us to assess where contractors are sitting in relation to their tolerance levels. As activity increases the prediction was that more contractors would be sitting at the top end of the tolerance levels which would in turn have started to put pressure on the global sum. The decision was taken to identify and allocate more monies to CMS to reward those who were engaging with service provision.

CPS is also providing information for those contractors who find themselves sitting at the lower end of the scale to enable them to assess what their next steps should be. All contractors can find out from the ready reckoner on the CPS website – updated each week – the level of activity needed to sustain their current level of payment.

Community MigrationPayment

September2012

80.8%

Community MigrationPaymentOctober

2012

£1.5m

September2012

CMSCapitation Pool

£3m

October 2012 Onwards

CMSCapitation Pool

The General Pharmaceutical Council has now launched its new standards for registered pharmacies. These standards must be met when operating a registered pharmacy.

Harry McQuillan CEO represented CPS at a GPhC workshop around premises standards on Wednesday 26 September. The workshop illustrated how the updated inspection model and decision framework will operate and how the transition to this new method of assessment will occur. Currently there is recognition that the regime lacks transparency, is imbalanced, and inconsistent while causing duplication and overlap. GPhC therefore intends to move to provide more public information through publication of the standards, inspection manuals and the whole inspection cycle. The frequency of visits will also be risk based as opposed to the cyclical nature that is currently in place.

The transition to this new inspection model will take place over one year before GPhC begins to make decisions on whether pharmacies have met the required outcomes. We will be providing members with more information and looking at ways in which we can provide support in due course.

Extemporaneous Methadone

As part of the development of new standards the GPhC has further clarified that it does not believe that the supply of unlicensed extemporaneously prepared methadone, as an alternative to an available licensed version, is compatible with EU law. The new requirement will become law by October 2013 but we have already requested the opportunity to discuss this requirement further with GPhC.

GPhC Registration Renewal

Remember - The last date for renewal is 31st October 2012 if you are not paying by direct debit. For pharmacy contractors the vast majority of premises registration fees are also due at the same time. However as GPhC currently operates a rolling register some fees will become payable over the course of the year.

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GPhC Standards for Registered Pharmacies

Negotiations with SG on how remuneration might be restructured from April 2013 are at a very early stage. Some discussion has taken place on:

• the overall shape of the payment structure

• the balance between fixed and activity related payments

• the way the different elements of payment are resourced

• how payment should tie in with how resources are allocated within other parts of the NHS.

Throughout these discussions CPS is very conscious of the need to ensure that the dispensing element of the service is recognised for what it delivers. We will keep you updated on the areas we are discussing.

Remuneration Restructuring Discussion for 2013/14

The recent Cabinet reshuffle of Scottish Government saw the longstanding Cabinet Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, give up her Health portfolio to be replaced by Alex Neil, MSP. CPS will look to build on the positive relationship we have fostered in the past within the Health department.There have also been several changes to the influential Health and Sport Committee:

CPS, through our parliamentary activity, has liaised with two of the new MSPs on the committee already.

Parliamentary Update

New appointees Previous member details

Mark McDonald (SNP – NE Scotland) George Adam (SNP – Paisley)

Aileen McLeod (SNP – SE Scotland) Jim Eadie (SNP – Edinburgh Southern)

David Torrance (SNP – Kirkcaldy) Richard Lyle (SNP – Central Scotland)

There is agreement between CPS and PSD that the current paper payment schedules are over-complicated and lack transparency.

This situation has arisen in part due to the development of more complicated payment structures. Over the years PSD has found it necessary to incorporate more payments within its adjustment system rather than the original Data Capture and Validation Process (DCVP) leading to the proliferation in the number of payment schedules issued.

CPS has been asking that information is presented to you in a way which ties in better with the services being delivered and recently CPS has been working closely with PSD in devising updated payment schedules.

PSD has made available through online reporting a first draft of a new schedule and is looking for feedback. The more radical changes we have suggested are still under consideration and will need to be robust enough to report appropriately as the restructuring of remuneration continues.

CPS understands that around 50% of contractors have signed up for the recently introduced online reporting system developed by the ePharmacy programme on behalf of PSD.

The system allows contractors to view online pharmacy payments and activity reports in greater detail than ever before. The reports can then be saved by the user onto their computer. We would encourage all contractors to engage in accessing their payment information in this manner as inevitably at some point in the future this will be the preferred, and possibly, only option available to contractors.

PSD PaymentSchedule Layout

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Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011In Vision 24 we provided you with some initial information on this new Act which was implemented from 1 April 2012. The Act raises the focus of patients’ rights and responsibilities and tries to encourage feedback positive and negative from patients on NHS services. A Patients’ Charter has also been introduced. The Act applies equally to those who provide services on behalf of the NHS as to those who are employed by the NHS. Pharmacy contractors therefore come within the scope of the Act.

Some contractors have already been contacted by their NHS Board to return information on complaints received over the previous quarter. This is because the Act required the Board to collect such information quarterly and all other feedback on an annual basis. You, as a contractor, should appoint a complaints and feedback officer who will manage the arrangements for providing feedback to the NHS Board. The Directions to the Act require you to feed back information as soon as reasonably practicable.

We have put more information on our website about this new requirement and will keep it updated. We are looking at ways to provide you with support around this new initiative.

CPS has concerns that the way the Act is implemented across Scotland by the NSH Boards may lead to variation. We would like to see the same system applied nationally and we will continue to lobby for that on your behalf.

Community Pharmacy Scotland42 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3NHTel: 0131 467 7766 | Fax: 0131 467 7767Web: www.communitypharmacyscotland.org.ukEmail: enquiries@communitypharmacyscotland.org.uk

Contact Details

Online Reporting