The community pharmacy contractors in England are invited to join the Covid-19 cost claims workshops to be organised by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) on Wednesday (July 14) and Monday (August 2).
The 60-minute online events will help contractors to process their claims for the extra costs they incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Contractors have until August 15 2021 to claim for the pandemic-related costs using an agreed claim form provided by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA),” said the PSNC.
The committee is working to get as much information about the claims process out to as many contractors as possible.
“The upcoming workshops will enable us to share information in a more accessible format as well as providing contractors with the opportunity to have their questions answered live by the PSNC team,” the committee said.
During the workshops PSNC’s CEO and the director of pharmacy funding will each explain the deal reached with the government, describe the NHSBSA claiming process, and work through some examples.
Under the new deal between the PSNC and the government, community pharmacy contractors in England can claim a range of costs incurred during the coronavirus pandemic. The contractors can claim full 13 months’ cost between March 1 2020 and March 30 2021.
The PSNC chief executive Simon Dukes has said in his latest blog, “Every contractor: big and small; independent and multiple; bricks and mortar and online – you all need to claim back your Covid costs”.
As per PSNC estimates, the sector’s total Covid cost for the financial year 2020-21 is about £450 million.
The earlier proposal from the government involved reimbursement for just the three months to May 2020, with a maximum claims limit of £120m.
Click here to register for the workshops.
Sukhi Basra