Pharmacy contractors to receive earlier advance payments from November

Following an agreement between the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), all community pharmacy contractors will be able to receive earlier advance payments from November.

Contractors, who make their monthly FP34C submissions through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by the 5th of the month, will receive payments about 20 days earlier than the current timetable.

The agreement, aimed at benefiting all contractors, came as part of discussions on the Pharmacy Earlier Payment Scheme (PEPS), which DHSC had decided to end following the collapse of Greensill Capital.

The option to receive earlier payments is available for all prescriptions dispensed after October 2021.

The negotiator has also advised all contractors to start using the MYS portal to make their declarations, as the FP34C submission document will not be available after March 2022.

Meanwhile, the final PEPS payments will be paid on October 1, 2021 and from November 1, a 12-month transition period will begin, allowing contractors to shift to the new earlier advance payment timetable.

PSNC chief executive Simon Dukes said: “The option for all community pharmacy contractors to bring forward the timing of their advance payments is a long overdue and very welcome development that will benefit all pharmacy businesses.

“The move to using MYS will mean changes for some contractors so we have made sure that they have the time to do this: this is all part of integrating us, including digitally, better with the NHS, and in the long term going digital should make processes more streamlined.

“This should significantly ease cashflow pressures on contractors currently using the PEPS.”

To help contractors in understanding and using the new system, the PSNC is also planning to hold a webinar.