Pharmacy First: Further changes to monthly targets

Achieving the thresholds for the monthly Pharmacy First payment has been an ongoing matter of great concern for pharmacy owners and Community Pharmacy England.

Since the two previously agreed changes to the original thresholds, which were secured following our representations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, we have continued to press for further changes to the thresholds for the rest of this year.

Ministers have now decided that they intend to amend the thresholds for the rest of the year, in light of the concerns that we have raised.

The changes were announced today by Ali Sparke, NHS England, speaking at the Pharmacy Show. The revised thresholds will be:

Commenting on the decision to amend the thresholds, Janet Morrison, CEO, Community Pharmacy England said:

“Whilst not as large a reduction in the thresholds as we wanted, these changes at least indicate Ministers are taking a much more pragmatic approach to Pharmacy First payment thresholds. This has been one of the key issues that we have been raising with the new Government, alongside the desperate wider financial position for community pharmacies, so we are grateful that some longer-term adjustments have now been made. Pharmacy First needs to work: for pharmacies, for patients, and for general practice; and our work with the Department and NHS to ensure that it will continue.

“We still need NHS England to effectively advertise the service to the public on an ongoing basis and to increase referral rates from general practices. It is critical that this now happens to allow patients and the public to receive care closer to home; to help improve access to general practice; and to allow community pharmacies to maximise the amount of allocated funding that they can earn from this important service. This latter point remains a key concern for us as we prepare to re-enter funding negotiations with Government, and we will continue to monitor the situation carefully.”