UPDATE: New Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) for 2020/21 details and funding published

Written by admin on Friday 4th September 2020

Full details for the PQS – Part 2 have now been published by NHS England and NHS Improvement

 

The details and funding are included in the coming month’s Drug Tariff (September 2020)

Key points for the Part 2 scheme are as follows:

  • Formally commences on 1st October 2020, but contractors can start work sooner
  • Completion of the Part 1 scheme is a Gateway requirement
  • There are five domains, each with its own component criteria to achieve
  • An Aspiration payment can be claimed from next month
  • The Part 2 Declaration is due in February 2021
  • A new approach to allocating the funding is being introduced (see below)

For more information about PQS – Part 2 please read the following PSNC news article, CPSC website page and CPSC summary:

New PQS payment structure

Total funding for PQS – Part 2 for 2020/21 is a minimum of £56.25m, with any unused funding from the Part 1 scheme also being added to the total.

A new approach to allocating the funding is being introduced in this scheme, with each domain having points allocated to it, but these vary dependent on the prescription volume of the contractor.

This change has been introduced to better recognise the varying workload and hence costs incurred by different contractors complying with the requirements of the scheme. While some costs will be common to contractors of all sizes, most of the elements of this new scheme involve variability of costs related to the number of staff employed at the pharmacy and staffing levels generally vary in relation to prescription volume.

To view the PQS domain payment bandings, please read the following PSNC website page:

Return to News