Community pharmacy drug tariff is set to move online from April, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has announced.
From April 2021 the drug tariff will no longer be printed and distributed as a paper document to anyone who currently receives it, including dispensing contractors and subscribers, NHSBSA said in a statement on Feb 24.
The drug tariff for March 2021 will be the final printed version to be distributed by the NHSBSA.
The drug tariff will continue to be published on a monthly basis on the NHSBSA portal. The dispensing contractors can register to receive a monthly email with a link to the publication.
The pharmacy contractors those have a registered email address with the NHSBSA will continue to receive a link to the PDF copy of the drug tariff each month.
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 each month.
The PDF format of the drug tariff is a duplicate of the printed drug tariff which can be downloaded and used offline.
The PSNC has suggested the pharmacy staff members who are not currently using the PDF version to familiarise themselves with this format ahead of the move to digital only versions.
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, the Pharmacy Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said.
Santosh Sahu
