From 1st April 2010 the remaining centrally held budget for pharmacy funding, known as the Global Sum, was devolved from the Department of Health to PCTs. PSNC secured agreement from the Department of Health (DH) that this funding will be protected while new funding arrangements are developed.

DH has introduced a set of measures designed to safeguard this funding which include a revised advance payment arrangement and the opportunity for contractors to claim protection for lost fees and allowances resulting from changes in the period of treatment. In addition the adverse consequences of increasing prescription duration have been made clear to PCTs and SHAs by the NHS Director of Finance.

The temporary protection measures need to be triggered in a timely manner by affected contractors so contractors are encouraged to monitor their business closely during 2010/11.

If prescription duration has increased significantly in a month then the contractor will have dispensed more medicines than usual and their 80% advance from NHS Prescription Services may not be sufficient to cover the increased wholesaler bill. In this case contractors can claim an extra advance to cover the increased supplier payment. This claim will need to be substantiated with evidence and will contain a declaration from the contractor that increased prescription duration is the cause of the increased wholesaler bill. The extra advance will be recovered in the usual way in the following month.