Pharmacy in the Future

"The Government is setting out its vision of how pharmacy can play a part in delivering the vision of the new NHS... to give patients the right care at the right time, in the right way and of the right quality".

A number of initiatives will be introduced to fulfil this vision. At the PPA, work is in progress to change data capture, pricing, schedule and information systems to implement these initiatives from October 2002.

Repeat Dispensing

Patients will be able to obtain repeat dispensing from a pharmacy without having to visit the GP each time to obtain a new prescription. A GP will issue a single 'Authorising' FP10 prescription form and the required number of 'Repeat' FP10 prescription forms. The patient will present all forms at an approved Repeat Dispensing Pathfinder Site pharmacy. The dispensing of a 'Repeat' form will be in a controlled manner and a pharmacist will monitor the effectiveness of the course of treatment. The 'Repeat' form will be submitted to the PPA for reimbursement, where existing processing rules will be applied. When all 'Repeat' forms have been dispensed, the 'Authorising' form will be submitted to the PPA for storage.

Local Pharmaceutical Services (LPS)

From October 2002, the first wave of LPS Pilots will commence, with a second wave planned for April 2003. In addition to dispensing, an LPS contract will be able to cover services such as medicines management, health promotion and disease prevention. LPS contractors will submit dispensed FP10 prescription forms to the PPA for reimbursement of the cost of the drug/ appliance, but not remuneration of fees. The PPA will also make Local LPS Payments when authorised by a PCT. PCTs are responsible for informing the PPA of contractor status.

Out of Hours Providers (non-FP10 Supply)

'There will be new quality standards and closer integration between NHS Direct and GP out-of-hours services... a single phone call to NHS Direct will be a one-stop gateway to out-of-hours healthcare, passing on calls to the appropriate GP co-operative or deputising service'

FP10 prescription forms prescribed by out-of-hour providers and dispensed by a community pharmacist will be processed at the PPA according to existing processing rules.

An out-of-hours provider can supply drugs, dressings, etc from stock based on a Patient Group Direction (PGD). This is known as non-FP10 supply. Previously non-FP10 data was not captured by the PPA. Now a new standard form (yet to be approved) to capture this data will be completed by the out-of-hours provider and submitted to the PPA. Where this is not a submission for payment, reimbursement processing will not take place. In the future, PPA information systems will be changed to incorporate and report on non-FP10 data.