Funding & Reimbursement Shorts
Published on: 15th November 2024 | Updated on: 4th December 2025
Community Pharmacy England’s series of short videos aim to provide pharmacy owners and their teams with more information on common funding and reimbursement topics, enhancing understanding of specific topics and addressing common queries. In the videos, our in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts offer practical advice on topics such as:
- prescription endorsement and submission requirements;
- common dispensing errors identified by our prescription audit team and advice on how to avoid these errors;
- price concessions;
- ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions;
- drug reimbursement reforms; and
- how the margins survey works and other wider funding issues.
The videos are supplemented by factsheets and briefings produced by the Dispensing and Supply team including the overarching ‘Top tips to maximise dispensing income’ factsheet, which links to a wealth of resources and serves as a handy written checklist for the wider pharmacy team.
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video on disallowed items.
Disallowed items are those that have not been passed for payment by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). It is important that pharmacy teams understand what can be done avoid or reduce the risk of receiving disallowed items from the NHSBSA to minimise the risk of losing money by dispensing disallowed items. Items may be disallowed for a number of reasons, for example the item prescribed is an appliance or medical device which is not listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff, or where the prescriber is not authorised to issue prescriptions for the prescribed item for example, if a NHS dentist or nurse has prescribed an item outside of their respective formulary.
In this video, Gemma Hackett, our Dispensing and Supply Officer, and Mitesh Bhudia, our Dispensing and Supply Supervisor, explain:
- What disallowed items are and the most frequent reasons for them being unpaid
- Practical checks pharmacy teams can carry out to reduce the risk, such as verifying prescribing rights, ensuring items are listed in the Drug Tariff, and confirming prescriber qualifications via the NMC register
- How to challenge disallowed items through MYS and what information to provide when submitting an appeal
- Helpful resources and top tips, including monitoring updates to dispensing systems, challenging NHSBSA decisions when appropriate, and using tools like the Prescription Item Report (PIR).
Watch the disallowed item video here:
With referred back items, pharmacy owners risk having their payments tied up until the required endorsement information is submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). Therefore, it is important that pharmacy teams understand the financial impact of referred backs and what they can do to avoid or reduce the risk of receiving these from the NHSBSA.
In this video, Sarah Welbourne, our Dispensing and Supply Team Officer and Alisha Khatri, our Dispensing and Supply Team Pharmacist, talk through referred back items to explain:
- What referred back items are, and the most common reasons for unpaid items
- The financial impact of unpaid items on the community pharmacy sector
- How pharmacy owners receive unpaid items, including a worked example of how to submit a referred back item
- The importance of correctly endorsing prescription items, depending on the type of item prescribed
- Useful tips to avoid receiving referred back items
- How to monitor referred back items
Watch the referred back item video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video on claiming payment for EPS prescriptions.
Correct EPS submission processes are a key part of ensuring pharmacy teams are paid accurately for the products supplied against electronic prescriptions and for preventing payment delays.
In this video, Dan Ah-Thion, our Community Pharmacy IT Policy Manager and Mitesh Bhudia, our Dispensing and Supply Team Supervisor, talk through the EPS prescription claiming and submission journey process to explain:
- The importance of submitting both Dispense Notification (DN) and Claim Notification (CN) messages or EREMs for EPS prescriptions
- How to apply correct dispenser endorsements and exemption status before submitting EPS claims
- How to manage mixed prescriptions and part-dispensed items to avoid claim rejection or incorrect charge deductions
- How the EPS claims interact with the EPS 5-day window and 180-day claiming deadlines for reimbursement
- Using IT dispensing system-generated reports to accurately declare EPS item totals on the FP34C and how to reconcile payments using the Prescription Item Report (PIR).
Watch the claiming payment for EPS prescriptions video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video on the paper prescription sorting and submission process.
For the end-of-month submission, pharmacy teams are required to sort the month’s paper dispensing activity. For the paper prescription sorting and submission process, pharmacy teams must sort FP10 paper prescriptions and any necessary EPS tokens into paid or exempt groups. Proper sorting allows the NHSBSA to determine if a patient has any outstanding charges, enabling appropriate deductions.
In this video, Mitesh Bhudia and Sarah Welbourne from our Dispensing and Supply Team discuss the paper prescription sorting and submission process to explain:
- The relevance of sorting prescriptions into paid and exempt groups
- Ensuring the correct paper prescriptions are placed in the red-separator
- How to avoid prescription switching when sorting paper prescriptions
- Ensuring prescription bundles are despatched before the submission deadline
Watch the paper prescription sorting and submission process video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video on the end of month submission process.
For the end-of-month submission, pharmacy teams are required to declare the month’s dispensing activity by completing the FP34C form on the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal. It is important that the information entered in the form is accurate and is submitted on time to secure the early advance payment. If the FP34C form is submitted late, it can result in payment delays and negatively impact the pharmacy’s cash flow.
In this video, Gemma Hackett and Alisha Khatri from our Dispensing and Supply Team discuss the end of month submission process to explain:
- What checks need to be carried out for the submission of EPS and paper prescriptions, including the submission of EPS claim notifications
- What pharmacy activity needs to be declared in the FP34C form
- When the FP34C should be completed and submitted via the MYS portal
- The financial impact of submitting the FP34C and end of month prescription bundle late
Watch the end of month submission video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video introducing the Pricing Audit Team (PAT).
The Pricing Audit Team undertake monthly audit checks to verify the accuracy of NHS pricing across prescriptions and the Margin Survey. For prescription pricing, pharmacy accounts are audited each month, covering paper prescriptions, electronic prescriptions, and the Pharmacy First Clinical Pathways Service. In the Margin Survey, accounts are reviewed monthly using a selected drug list of 450–500 products, which includes a mix of branded items, generics, and specials. Additional data is also gathered on all concessionary prices to ensure comprehensive oversight of pricing accuracy. These audits give confidence and reaffirmation to both pharmacy owners and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) that pricing rules and regulations are being followed.
In this video, Mitesh Bhudia from our Dispensing and Supply Team and Janine Rowe from our PAT team introduce the PAT team and explain:
- Why the auditing process is important for both NHSBSA and pharmacy owners
- Discuss errors where there is incorrect claiming by pharmacy teams
- How to avoid making errors when dispensing prescriptions
- Examples of errors our auditors encounter
Watch the video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video on prescription switching.
For the end-of-month submission, pharmacy teams are required to sort paper prescriptions into paid and exempt groups. Prescription switching occurs when an FP10 paper prescription is submitted in the wrong charge group and the NHS Business Services Authority switches the prescription from the exempt to paid group or vice versa. In 2024, £2.3m were deducted from pharmacies because 230k prescription items on FP10 paper prescriptions were submitted in the exempt group without a patient signature on the reverse of the prescription form.
In this video, Alisha Khatri and Sarah Welbourne from our Dispensing and Supply Team discuss the topic of prescription switching to explain:
- What prescription switching is and why FP10 paper prescriptions are switched by the NHSBSA
- Where to find information about your switched prescriptions
- The financial impact of switching due to unsigned prescriptions
- How to complete, sort and submit your prescriptions correctly to avoid prescription switching
Watch the prescription switching video here:
As part of our Funding & Reimbursement Shorts series, Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video providing guidance on Original Pack Dispensing (OPD) including how and when to apply the new +/-10% rules.
In this video, Gemma Hackett and Alisha Khatri from our Dispensing and Supply Team, discuss the topic of OPD, covering:
- What OPD +/- 10% is and why it was introduced;
- When and how to use OPD +/- 10%, including which types of products it will relate to;
- How reimbursement rules will be applied including examples; and
- How IT/PMR functionality supports OPD
Watch the Original Pack Dispensing (OPD) video here:
Further information and resources:
See Community Pharmacy England’s Original Pack Dispensing page for more information including regulatory changes and IT systems functionality.
Update: From 1 December 2025, the use of the ‘FS’ prescriber endorsement has been extended to treatments used in the management of tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB infections, including the effects of TB and the adverse effects from TB treatment.
See our updated Dispensing Factsheet: ‘FS’ endorsement for ‘Free supply for specified use’ for how pharmacies should correctly submit ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions for payment.
Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a new video providing guidance on how handling ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions for free supply of sexual health treatments.
In our latest video, Mitesh Bhudia and Gemma Hackett from our Dispensing and Supply Team, discuss the topic of ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions, including:
- Which treatments are covered by the ‘FS’ endorsement;
- How prescribers should apply the ‘FS’ endorsement to prescriptions;
- Dispensing and claiming for prescriptions with ‘FS’ endorsed items; and
- Correct submission of prescriptions with ‘FS’ endorsed items.
Watch the ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions for free supply of sexual health treatments video here:
Community Pharmacy England’s in-house Drug Tariff and funding experts have created a video providing guidance on how to correctly endorse and claim for any supplies made against a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP).
In our latest video which is available now for community pharmacy teams to watch, Mitesh Bhudia and Suraj Shah from our Dispensing and Supply Team, discuss the topic of SSPs, including:
- How to correctly endorse an SSP to ensure correct payment;
- Common reasons why SSP claims are deemed incorrect/invalid and are not paid; and
- How to reconcile SSP prescriptions.
Watch the SSP video here:
Further information and resources:
A video explaining the recent improvements to the price concessions process is now available for community pharmacy teams to watch.
In the latest video, Mitesh Bhudia and Sarah Welbourne from our Dispensing and Supply Team discuss ongoing work to improve the system for pharmacy owners and the changes implemented by the Department of Health and Social Care, including:
- Price concession lines becoming Zero Discount;
- Rolling over of price concessions; and
- Retrospective top-up payments.
Watch the price concession video here:
Further information and resources (as referenced in the guide):
A video presented by Mitesh Bhudia and Gemma Hackett from our Dispensing and Supply Team, looks at prescriptions containing supplementary product information. The video guides viewers through the issue using likely examples and advice on what to do.
Watch the supplementary product information video here:
Further information and resources (as referenced in the guide):
For more information on this topic please email comms.team@cpe.org.uk
