Community Pharmacy England has voiced its criticism of the new “margin reduction formula” for concessions pricing as the final concessions for April were published yesterday (May 1). 

The use of the new formula has delayed the publication of price concessions “through the addition of another layer of complexity to the concessions process,” said CPE. 

The final update for April follows the decision taken by ministers to impose changes to the system, a move CPE “strongly opposed” as it believes it could exacerbate the widespread problem of pharmacies being forced to dispense medicines at a loss – something the negotiator says will have “serious consequences” for pharmacies and their patients.

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking to recover around £5.4m per month between April and July by limiting concessionary prices in what CPE described as an “experiment” replacing the usual process of making margin adjustments to Category M prices.

“CPE remains firmly opposed to this approach, or any recovery of margin, given the very serious financial fragility of community pharmacies. We have serious concerns about the ongoing impact on pharmacy businesses and their patients,” it said.

South Cumbria pharmacist Ben Merriman posted on X to remind contractors that the April prices were not agreed by CPE after the DHSC “imposed changes on reimbursement to claw back what they deem to be excess margin by adjusting concessionary prices downwards”.

Mr Merriman asked why the NHS BSA website says the April prices were “agreed” by the Department despite its unilateral imposition to impose them.

Leeds pharmacist Adeel Sarwar warned the DHSC: “Please be prepared for an avalanche of patients calling the department to ask why medicines are not available.”