Contractor notice: New paper FP34C forms and changes to sorting requirements

From October 2021, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will be posting out a new version of the paper FP34C form which will continue to be issued until March 2022 (for prescriptions dispensed in February 2022), after which FP34C submissions through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal will become compulsory.

The revised paper FP34C form to be sent to pharmacy contractors for October’s prescriptions (submitted by the 5th November), includes the following changes to Parts 1 and 2:

Part 1 (Submissions section)

  • The following sections have been added or updated in Part 2 Declarations section:
  • Figures for Electronic Prescription Claims and FP10 Paper Claims now have separate entries on the form to ease the contractor reconciliation process and related EPS totals comparisons. Pharmacy staff involved in the end of month submission process should take extra care when completing the revised paper FP34C form as this now requires a separate declaration for number of EPS and paper prescription forms and items (by charge group), as well as combined totals. These totals are used to calculate the pharmacy advance payment.
  • The following sections have been removed from Part 1 Submissions section:
  • ETP Token for non-payment – tick box
  • Repeat Authorising forms – tick box
  • EPS release 2 Claim messages – tick box

Part 2 (Declarations)

  • The following sections have been added or updated in Part 2 Declarations section:
  • Appliance Use Reviews – The wording for Appliance Use Reviews has been updated to reflect recent changes to how they are conducted in light of the pandemic
  • No. of supplies made in accordance with Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP) declaration – (this declaration will also appear on the MYS FP34C form). Here contractors should endorse the number of SSP claims made each month and not the number of items supplied in accordance with the SSPs. The number of items supplied are to be declared along with the usual item totals in Part 1. Please note that the NHSBSA will not be using the SSP declaration made on the FP34Cs for reimbursement purposes. Instead the SSP declaration is to provide the NHSBSA with an indication that SSP claim(s) are expected in that month and will support contractors when reconciling the number of SSP fees on their payment schedules against the number of SSP claims declared on the FP34C.
  • The following sections have been removed from Part 2 Declarations section:
  • Total number of hours that pharmacists and staff members supporting the dispensing process work in an average week, rounded to the nearest whole number
  • No. of Medicines Use Reviews undertaken

In addition the Sorting and Submission Guidance on the revised paper FP34C form has been updated with the following information:

  • Changes to ETP token submission requirements. Each month, contractors must submit tokens for electronic prescriptions (except those for age exempt patients, prescriptions where only free-of-charge (FOC) items are prescribed and where Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC) confirms an exemption).
  • The end of month prescription sorting requirements have been relaxed removing the need for contractors to sort paper FP10 forms by form type (FP10SS PN/SP/HP and FP10D) or by prescriber surname.
  • Updated red separator sorting criteria to include Bulk prescriptions, ‘FS’ endorsed prescriptions, prescriptions with claims for SSPs, and prescriptions, issued to prisoner’s on release by Her Majesty’s Prison Service, annotated ‘HMP’ in the practice address box. These prescriptions should be placed in the red separator for exempt prescriptions

The changes above will also be reflected in the digital version of the form that can be submitted through the MYS portal.

IMPORTANT: While the paper FP34C submission route remains an option until March 2022, pharmacy contractors are strongly encouraged to submit their FP34C’s through MYS by the 5th of the month to benefit from the earlier advance payment timetable coming in from November 2021. Contractors who continue to use the paper FP34C submission form (from November 2021 to March 2022) will NOT receive any earlier advance payments but instead will receive advance payments in accordance with the current payment timetable i.e on or around the 1st of the month following submission.

Please see PSNC’s updated Changes to the paper FP34C submission document (from October 2021) factsheet for more information.