Soon after Scottish community pharmacies received funding to support opening at Easter, PSNC and NHSE&I have agreed that community pharmacy contractors in England will be funded for opening at Easter at a rate of £250 per hour.
NHSE&I had initially said that it would pay contractors for these openings but that payments would not reflect Bank Holiday premiums. PSNC has been arguing that pharmacy contractors will have to pay these premiums and that these should be covered by NHSE&I.
PNSC has said that further information will follow in terms of how community pharmacy contractors can claim this money in due course.
PSNC Chief Executive Simon Dukes said:
“The negotiations over Easter opening hours have concluded much later than we had hoped and we know that this has caused considerable logistical challenges for contractors. We are pleased to have reached agreement on a funding rate though and we look forward to resolving similar questions around the May Bank Holidays much earlier.”
