Pharmacies in England will be paid a total of £10.08 per flu vaccination this year, PSNC has announced.

The fee paid per vaccination will remain at £9.58 - the same level as last year - but PSNC has agreed with NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) that pharmacies will also be paid an additional £0.50 per vaccination from the Transition Fund.

The announcement made by PSNC last week (11 September) also noted that up to £1m of medicines margin can be retained for flu vaccinations administered above the number in a normal year. This is in addition to the allowed £800m medicines margin under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.

Off-site provision pay

NHSE&I has also agreed to pay contractors up to £200 to help with hiring off-site venues for vaccinations, providing their claim fits a set of criteria, and a one-off payment of £200 for cold storage equipment.

Contractors must obtain pre-authorisation for the hire of a venue and cold storage costs from their regional NHSE&I office and undertake a minimum of 20 vaccinations in the venue to be eligible for the payments.

PSNC said that the budget for off-site provisions is limited and payments for the cost of venue hire and cold storage will be given to contractors on a first-come first-served basis.

Claims for additional payments to cover costs of off-site provisions and cold storage equipment should be made monthly via the Manage Your Service (MYS) platform.

In Scotland, pharmacies will receive £8.27 per flu jab, as well as a £250 fee for participating in this year’s expanded vaccination programme.

Earlier this month, some pharmacists raised concerns that it is more difficult for them to make use of off-site provisions, and this could result in pharmacy losing out on patients.