C-19 test distribution service added to the CPCF
A new Advanced service – the NHS community pharmacy COVID-19 lateral flow device distribution service – has been added to the NHS Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) as from Monday 29th March 2021.
This service, which pharmacy contractors can choose to provide, aims to improve access to asymptomatic COVID-19 testing by making lateral flow device (LFD) test kits readily available at community pharmacies. The service is part of the NHS Test and Trace offering to the public and people will self-administer the tests away from the pharmacy, for example, at home.
NHS Test and Trace research into routine mass testing shows participants prefer to access testing in the community, pharmacists are trusted by their local communities and unfamiliar new points of access are less well trusted; these findings have led to a Government decision to commission a distribution service from community pharmacies.
In NHS Test and Trace marketing and communications aimed at the public, the service will be referred to as Pharmacy Collect and it will allow asymptomatic people to collect LFD test kits, free of charge, from community pharmacies, so they can undertake regular testing as part of the Government’s COVID-19 roadmap plan. The most common circumstances that will prompt a person to undertake regular tests are:
- They are a child at school or are in a bubble with school children;
- They work at a school or are in a bubble with school staff;
- They have to leave the house for work;
- Their local council has advised them to test; or
- Their GP or another healthcare professional has advised them to test.
The pharmacy is not involved in the generation of test results, supporting the reporting of results or the next steps for the person taking the test.
Funding and Resource Planning
The funding for the service comes from outside the pharmacy Global Sum and it is made up of the following elements:
- An early sign-up fee of £200 + VAT, for any contractors who sign up to provide the service by 23:59 on 18th April 2021. This payment will be triggered by completion of the registration declaration on the MYS portal by 23:59 on 18th April 2021.
- A one-off set-up fee of £250 + VAT, which covers set-up costs including creating an SOP for the service and training staff who will be involved in providing the service, and storage costs for the test kits ordered from wholesalers. This payment will be triggered by completion of the registration declaration on the MYS portal.
- A service fee of £1.50 + VAT per transaction. This payment will be made based on the weekly declarations submitted by the contractor on the MYS portal.
That means contractors signing up to provide the service by 23:59 on 18th April 2021 will receive £450 + VAT in up-front payments for the service, in addition to the service fee for each transaction undertaken.
If you are interested in signing up for the service you may want to look at your resource planning to ensure you can comply with the requirements of the service, including the administrative requirements.
Further information on the service requirements, the resources contractors need to get ready to provide the service and the service specification can all be accessed on the PSNC's new C-19 lateral flow device distribution service webpage here.
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