Community Pharmacists (Hansard, 19 July 1993)

§ Dr. Lynne Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans she has to require community pharmacists to provide additional services without receiving additional payment;
(2) to what extent she intends to fund the new professional allowance for community pharmacists from the new existing global sum.
3W

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The 1993–94 pay settlement will be as a first step towards specifically recognising the professional services many pharmacists provide. The detailed elements of the pharmacists' remuneration structure, of which the proposed professional allowance would be one, are all funded from within the global sum.

§ Dr. Lynne Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis her proposed threshold of 2,000 NHS prescriptions per month for payment of the professional allowance to community pharmacists was calculated.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is her policy that community pharmacies make a demonstrable contribution to the national health service only if they dispense more than 2,000 prescriptions per month.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
A threshold of 2,000 national health service prescriptions per month was one part of one element of the original pay offer for the transitional year of 1993–94 which was designed as an interim step towards a longer-term structure. We are reviewing the terms of that offer in the light of discussions with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee.

§ Dr. Lynne Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether her proposal of a 2000 NHS prescription per month threshold for payment of the new professional allowance to community pharmacists has been formally withdrawn;
(2) what assessment she has made of the rate of progress of the negotiations with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee on remuneration for community pharmacists; and what steps she is taking to put further proposals to the committee.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) why the proposed meeting between her officials and the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee on 13 July did not take place;
(2) when she expects her Department to put a new set of proposals concerning the remuneration of community pharmacists to the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The rate of progress of the negotiations with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee on pharmacists' remuneration for 1993–94 has been much slower than we would have wished. The pay offer made on 12 March remains on the table, but the Government are considering the points made in discussions with the committee since then and hope to be in a position to table a revised offer shortly. We were not ready to do so by 13 July and so that meeting provisionally rescheduled for that day was postponed.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposed increase of 1.5 per cent. for 1993–94 in the global sum for payment of community pharmacists is intended to cover the increased drug costs and other expenses incurred by community pharmacists on behalf of the NHS as well as provide for an increase in their reumuneration; and if he will make a statement.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The proposed increase is intended to cover both the labour and overheads elements of pharmacists' remuneration. The reimbursement of the cost of the drugs they dispense is dealt with separately.
4W