2015/16 Funding Settlement
2015/16 Funding Settlement
2015/16 Funding Settlement
The details of the changes in contractor funding for 2015/16 are set out below.
2015/16 Agreement
A settlement of £2.8bn is agreed for the period 2015/16. This comprises of £2b to be delivered through fees and allowances, and £800m to be delivered through retained buying margin.
| £m | |
| Fees & allowances | 2,000 |
| Agreed buying profit | 800 |
| Total funding | 2,800 |
Changes in Fees and Allowances
There will be no change to the fee levels of the dispensing fee, additional fees, repeat dispensing payment and EPS Allowances.
The levels of Practice Payment contractors receive are changing from September 2015. The following table outlines the Practice Payments effective from 1st September in England:
Number of items per month |
Practice Payment for 1st September 2015 to 31st March 2016 |
Contribution in Practice Payment for EA for 1st September 2015 to 31st March 2016 |
| Up to 1,099 | £350 | £350 |
| 1,100 – 1,599 | £3,268 | £700 |
| 1,600 – 2,499 | £4,575 | £875 |
| 2,500+ | 54.7p | 6.6p per item |
Fees and Allowances from November 2015
Following close monitoring of funding delivery following the above changes to fees and allowances, it has been determined a further change to Practice Payment levels is required to deliver the correct amount of funding for 2015/16. As such following table outlines the Practice Payments effective from 1st November in England:
Number of items per month |
Practice Payment for 1st November 2015 to 31st March 2016 |
Contribution in Practice Payment for EA for 1st November 2015 to 31st March 2016 |
| Up to 1,099 | £250 | £250 |
| 1,100 – 1,599 | £2,407 | £500 |
| 1,600 – 2,499 | £3,369 | £625 |
| 2,500+ | 56.4p | 6.6p per item |
Changes to Services
A flu vaccination service – a new Advanced Service – will launch in September 2015. From then, community pharmacies will be able to offer NHS flu vaccinations to adult patients aged 18 and over at the time of vaccination, who are defined as at risk in the Annual Flu letter. Fees for flu vaccinations will come from national flu budgets, i.e. in addition to and outside of the £2.8bn and with the total delivered dependent on uptake of the service.
More details on the flu vaccination service are available in the briefing below, and a service specification and guidance for flu vaccinations are being developed and will be published in due course.
More information
For the full wording of the 2015/16 funding announcement, and detailed briefings on the aspects of the settlement please click the following links:
PSNC Briefing 034/15: Community Pharmacy Flu Vaccination Advanced Service
PSNC Briefing 035/15: Changes to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2015/16
PSNC Briefing 036/15: The 2015/16 Settlement Agreement and Funding
PSNC Briefing 037/15: Contractor FAQs on additional 2015/16 settlement elements
PSNC Briefing 038/15: PSNC Update on negotiations on a national Minor Ailments Advice Service
