The claim window for Pharmacy First payments will be reduced from three months to one month from Sunday 1 June 2025, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have reminded contractors.
The change also means that from June, consultations carried out in March, April and May 2025 must be claimed for by 11.59pm on 30 June to receive payment.
It comes as a new interim payment threshold is introduced for pharmacies delivering clinical pathway consultations under Pharmacy First from June.
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The move will see contractors who deliver 20-29 clinical pathway consultations a month receive a £500 interim payment, while those who reach the target of 30 or more will get the full £1,000 monthly payment.
Before 1 June, consultation submissions were accepted if made within three months by which the claim should have been submitted.
But from 1 June, late submissions will only be accepted if they are made by the final day of the month following the month in which the Pharmacy First consultation was conducted.
This means, for example, for June 2025, claims must be made on the Manage Your Service (MYS) Portal by the last day of July 2025.
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Later claims will not be paid, unless the submission of a claim was delayed by IT issues outside the contractor’s control, such as with the MYS Portal.
These claims will be accepted outside the usual grace period within 12 months of the date by which the claim should have been submitted, subject to the NHSBSA receiving evidence of the IT issue, and only if investigation finds that the evidence demonstrates that the IT issue was outside the control of the contractor, and it delayed the claim submission.
To be eligible for monthly payments from June, contractors must be registered and able to deliver the Hypertension Case Finding Service, Pharmacy Contraception Service and Pharmacy First service in addition to the minimum activity requirement for delivering the clinical pathways.
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Contractors must register on the MYS portal for all three services by 11.59pm on Saturday 31 May.
From October 2025, they will also be required to deliver one ambulatory blood pressure monitoring per month.
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