Pharmacy teams should note that from November 2021, all community pharmacy contractors will have the chance to receive earlier advance payments, following agreement between PSNC and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).  Advance payments will be made approximately 20 days earlier than the current payment timetable for contractors who make their monthly FP34C submissions through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by the 5th of the month.

The paper FP34C submission document will only be available until March 2022 (for February 2022 prescriptions) after which MYS will be the only route for all monthly submissions. Contractors who continue to use the paper FP34C submission document (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. Therefore, contractors who use paper FP34Cs for their monthly submissions are strongly encouraged to start using the MYS portal to make their declarations.

Further details for contractors are outlined in this PSNC Briefing

Welsh contractors should refer to information on the Health Solutions Wales (HSW) website.

The guidance included with the FP34C submission form outlines the sorting and submission requirements for monthly paper prescriptions submitted for payment to the NHSBSA. From November 2021 (for prescriptions dispensed in October 2021), pharmacy staff involved in end of month submission process will continue to be required to sort prescription forms into relevant exempt or paid groups (current rate and old charge rates) and use red separators for forms which include specified items before the prescription bundle is submitted for payment to the NHSBSA.

The recommended order for sorting of prescriptions is outlined below.

• EPS tokens for non-payment, FP57 forms and paper Repeat Authorising (RA) forms
• Resubmitted forms from previous month(s)
• Red separator forms (includes the newly added Bulk and HMP Service-issued prescriptions)
• FP10MDA instalment dispensing forms (where possible sorted open and flat)
• All other FP10 forms (sorting no longer required by form type (FP10SS PN/SP/HP and FP10D) or by prescriber surname)

The image below shows the correct prescription bundle sorting requirements to follow from November 2021 (for prescriptions dispensed in October 2021)

1. Unless an automatic exemption applies, it is a condition of entitlement to exemption from prescription charges that the patient or their representative claiming exemption must make and duly complete a declaration of entitlement on the EPS token. 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). Tokens must be sorted separately from FP10 paper prescriptions and dispatched with the prescription bundle no later than the 5th of the month following that in which supply was made. Where submitted, the EPS tokens must relate to the same the dispensing month in which the associated electronic prescriptions are submitted for payment to the NHSBSA

2. See PSNC’s Red Separator factsheet for guidance on which forms are required to be placed in the red separators

3. Contractors are no longer required to sort FP10 prescriptions by form type (FP10SS PN/SP/HP and FP10D) or by prescriber name/type

Note: There are different submission arrangements for private Controlled Drug prescription forms (FP34PCD) and Controlled Drug requisition forms (FP10CDF) (see our Controlled Drugs section for more information).

Submission claim via MYS

Contractors must:

• Populate the FP34C claim form on the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal and submit no later than the 5th day of the following month in which the supply to secure early advance payment.
• endorse the prescription forms as required in Clause 9 (Endorsement Requirements) of the Drug Tariff;
• sort prescription bundle as outlined on the FP34C; and
• print the populated FP34C from the MYS platform to dispatch alongside your prescription bundle to the relevant division of the NHS Business Service Authority in a secure manner that enables tracking and tracing of the delivery no later than the 5th day of the month following that in which the supply was made.

Paper FP34C submission claim

Contractors must:

• endorse prescription forms as required in Clause 9 (Endorsement Requirements) of the Tariff; and
• dispatch your prescription bundle to the relevant division of the NHS Business Service Authority
  (i) with the appropriate claim form;
  (ii) sorted as appropriate (as outlined on the FP34C);
  (iii) in a secure manner that enables tracking and tracing of the delivery; and
  (iv) not later than the 5th day of the month following that in which the supply was made.

For EPS prescriptions contractors must ensure that the Electronic Reimbursement Endorsement Messages (EREMs) include endorsement requirements as required by Clause 9, Part II, and submit the EREMs via EPS to NHS Prescription Services for receipt at the Pricing Authority no later than by the 5th of the following month in which supply was made to secure payment for the current month. Contractors should note that any EREMs sent after the 5th of the following month in which supply was made will be priced with next month’s claim. EREMs sent later than 180 days after the dispense notification was sent, will not be subject to payment.

Contractors should be mindful of the EPS five-day window when completing their FP34C declaration. The dispensing month in which an EPS prescription is submitted and counted for payment is determined by two key dates: the dispense notification (DN) date and the claim notification (CN) date. For more information see our Factsheet: Claiming for EPS prescriptions on time.

In months where one or more bank holiday occurs during the first five days of the month, contractors will be given an extra day to submit their FP34C and dispatch their prescription bundle to the NHSBSA. For more information on submission and timing of advance payments see our PSNC Briefing 032/21: New payment arrangements for ALL contractors following end to Pharmacy Earlier Payment Scheme (PEPS).

Contractors must take extra care when completing their total figures of forms and items for exempt and paid electronic and paper prescriptions, and the combined totals, to ensure it is entered and declared correctly. The information contained within this section is used by NHSBSA to calculate the monthly advance payment.

• Ensure all prescriptions are filed in the correct patient charge group – i.e. exempt, paid, old rate paid.
• Each charge group should be secured with one or two elastic bands. Avoid using too many elastic bands (see picture).

• Double check prescription endorsements for any:
  • expensive items (it is advisable to keep a record/copy of any dispensed paper prescriptions for high value items to reconcile against the Schedule of Payments);
  • unlicensed specials/imports;
  • Broken Bulk (BB) claims; and
  • Out of pocket Expenses (OOP).
• Do not submit paper prescriptions with labels, sticky notes, pins, staples, paper clips attached as this can affect the scanning process.
• Where required, endorse paper prescriptions clearly to the left-hand side margin of the prescription form. Avoid any marks or endorsements in the prescribing area of the form as this may affect pricing of a prescription.
• Pharmacy stamp must not obscure the patient details, prescribed items or endorsements.
• Endorse ‘ND’ against any item not dispensed and strike through the item with a horizontal line.
• Exemption and paid declarations on paper prescriptions must be completed in full (see page on Exemptions from the prescription charge) and forms placed in the correct groups to avoid prescriptions being switched between chargeable and exempt groups.
• Check that EPS prescriptions do not contain any supplementary product information for e.g. a particular brand or manufacturer included as part of the dosage instructions. Supplementary product information contained in the dosage area or notes section of electronic prescriptions is not read by the NHSBSA and therefore contractors will not be reimbursed for supplying in accordance with these additional instructions. If an electronic prescription annotated with additional/supplementary product information is received by a pharmacy, it is strongly recommended to have such prescriptions appropriately rewritten/re-issued by the prescriber before claiming.
• Only prescription forms meeting the red separator criteria below must be included in the relevant red separators:
  
  

Q. What should I do if I am unable to submit my end of month claim via MYS?

A. The Drug Tariff Clause 5a Part 7 states:

‘(a) In exceptional circumstances, where the contractor through no fault of their own, is unable to submit the FP34C form through the MYS portal, contractors are advised to contact the NHSBSA either through email nhsbsa.mys@nhs.net or by contacting the MYS helpdesk number (0300 330 1368). Contractors should note that this route is available only for emergencies, which are directly related to the contractor (for example internet outage in the contractor’s area) and not related to the MYS platform itself (in case of the MYS platform being down there will be instructions for contractors on the NHSBSA’s website on what to do);
(b) Contractors, who will be using the email route, are advised that they must apply an advanced electronic signature to the email to secure payment; and
(c) Contractors, who will be using the telephone route, are advised that the NHSBSA will contact the contractor via a preferred email address for the contractor, which the contractor has shared with them during the phone call conversation, for them to confirm that the claim the NHSBSA noted via the phone call was correct, and the contractor must apply an advanced electronic signature to the confirmation email to secure payment.’

Q. How can I ensure I get paid the earlier advance payment?

A. To receive the earlier advance payment, pharmacy contractors will need to ensure they:

• Submit end of month bundle via MYS portal
• Submit end of month bundle by 5th of following month
• Use track and trace service to send bundle alongside paper FP34C to NHSBSA

Q. Which tokens should I send with the prescription bundle?

A. The tokens which should be sent to the Pricing Authority are those where:

• the exemption status has been captured (other than were the patient is age exempt i.e. aged under 16 or over 59); or
• if the patient has paid a charge.

These tokens are sent for audit purposes only.
NOTE: pricing is based solely on the exemption category assigned on the electronically submitted Relase 2 message. It is important to ensure that the correct exemption status is assigned to the patient PMR ahead of sending any electronic messages for claim.

Q.How do I put EPS Release 2 Prescriptions into the red separator? What do I do with red separator items on EPS Release 2?

A. There is no virtual red separator for EPS Release 2 prescriptions. The items on paper prescriptions that are eligible to go in the red separator should be priced accordingly on electronic prescriptions. However, PSNC does advise that as part of the pharmacy’s reconciliation process, contractors should keep a log or generate report(s) from their PMR system for the following types of items:

• Expensive items (items with a net ingredient cost of £100 or over);
• Specials and unlicensed products; and
• Items with broken bulk or out of pocket expense claims.

This report or log should then be used to reconcile items/values on the pharmacy’s FP34 Schedule of Payment which is sent by the Pricing Authority after the bundle has been priced. If you are unable or unsure as to how to generate a report which incorporates the above, contact your PMR system supplier for further information.

Pharmacy teams are also reminded that EPS tokens should not be placed in the red separator in the end of month prescription bundle. This is because these tokens are not used for payment of electronic prescriptions (payment is solely based on the information contained in the electronic claim message).