Drug tariff to go fully paperless from April

Drug tariff will no longer be printed and distributed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) from April 2021 as the system is on its way to make it go fully paperless.

The preface section of the November 2020 drug tariff has been updated to reflect that March 2021 will be the final month in which a printed Drug Tariff will be circulated to community pharmacies.

“From January 2021, where pharmacy contractors have a registered email address with the NHSBSA, a link to the PDF copy will be supplied to that email address each month,” the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has said in an update on Wednesday (October 28).

“If any issues arise in receiving a link to the PDF version of the drug tariff at the registered email address, pharmacy teams can contact NHSBSA at nhsbsa.drugtariff@nhs.net.

“This email address can also be used by pharmacy teams to request addition of an email address to the circulation list. Pharmacy teams should note that this mailbox will not be monitored until January 2021”.

Digital formats (an electronic and PDF version) of the drug tariff will continue to be available via the NHSBSA website three working days before the first day of the each month.

The PDF format of the drug tariff is a duplicate of the printed drug tariff which can be downloaded and used offline on a smartphone or tablet device.

Pharmacy teams not currently using the PDF version should familiarise themselves with this format ahead of the move to digital only versions.

PSNC has advised downloading a PDF copy each month to ensure that it can be easily accessed and recommend using the search function (Ctrl+F) to locate any specific information contained in the drug tariff.

The electronic drug tariff is different to the PDF version as it has no page numbers and requires a continuous connection to the internet. Any reference to page numbers in the electronic tariff should be cross-referenced with the PDF version.