Advance payments for items dispensed in April and June will include the uplifted single activity fee (SAF) agreed in the new contractual framework.

The 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) uplifted the SAF by 19p per item.

And Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has now confirmed that contractors will see an adjustment for this uplift in payments made for items dispensed in April and May.

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The advance payments are based on an estimated average item value (AIV), which is then reconciled with the actual number of items dispensed through a payment or deduction.

But since the AIV for items dispensed in April and May won't be based on the uplifted SAF, these payments will be adjusted to reflect the increase.

For items dispensed in April:

  • If pharmacy owners make their claim before 6 May (early advance payment), their advance payment received on 12 May will include an adjustment to reflect the SAF uplift. This will be reconciled with actual dispensing numbers in a payment made on 30 May.
  • If pharmacy owners make their claim by 21 May (normal advance payment), their advance payment received on 30 May will include an adjustment to reflect the SAF uplift. This will be reconciled with actual dispensing numbers in a payment made on 1 July.

For items dispensed in May:

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  • If pharmacy owners make their claim before 5 June (early advance payment), their advance payment received on 11 June will include an adjustment to reflect the SAF uplift. This will be reconciled with actual prescriptions dispensed in a payment made on 1 July.
  • If pharmacy owners make their claim by 23 June (normal advance payment), their advance payment received on 1 July will include an adjustment to reflect the SAF uplift. This will be reconciled with actual prescriptions dispensed in a payment made on 1 August.

For items dispensed from June, the AIV will already include the 19p SAF uplift, so no adjustment is needed, CPE confirmed.

Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said it was 'good news' that the government had recognised the 'significantly increased costs' facing pharmacy contractors in April and May with this 'small step to try and mitigate these increases'.

'This has been a period of immense challenge for pharmacies and because the current settlement only slightly reduces the funding gap, we’ll be monitoring closely to see if the wider CPCF offer has a stabilising effect on the pharmacy network,' he added.

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In a recent interview with The Pharmacist, Numark chair Harry McQuillan said that the 'significant' increase in the single activity fee indicated that 'supply is still very, very important'.

'They are putting an element of the funding into making sure that essential core service remains,' he said.