PSNC has announced the launch of a national flu vaccination service for community pharmacies, alongside a £2.8 billion funding package agreed with the NHS for 2015/16.

From September 2015, community pharmacies will be able to offer an NHS flu jab to all at-risk patients over the age of 18 years, including patients aged 65 years and over.

Pharmacy contractors will receive £9.14 per administered dose of vaccination as well as reimbursement of vaccine costs. The fee includes remuneration of £7.64 per administered dose plus a fee of £1.50 per vaccination to recognise costs incurred by the contractor to provide the service, such as training and clinical waste disposal costs.

The fees for flu vaccinations will come from national flu budgets and will be in addition to and outside of the £2.8 billion pharmacy funding settlement.

In addition to the new Advanced Service, PSNC and the NHS have agreed to establish a joint working group to review the costs of the Electronic Prescription Service to inform future negotiations, and to a number of changes to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF).

Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice, referred to the move as “a great step forward for pharmacy” which will “help the whole system reach the targets for vaccination set by the Chief Medical Officer”. He added that the organisation would support its members to ensure that they would be able to provide the service by the start of the upcoming flu season.

Rachel Sharples, pharmacy superintendent at Well, also welcomed the announcement, stating that: “It demonstrates a confidence in the role of pharmacy teams to support the increasing pressures on NHS services, beyond simply providing prescriptions,” while Marc Donovan, chief pharmacist, Boots UK agreed that it would give patients “more choice and easier access to their winter flu vaccination”.

John D’Arcy, managing director of Numark, said that “it is pleasing to see recognition of the efforts made by pharmacists in getting the flu service off the ground and delivering it to such widespread effect”.

However, he regretted that the funding settlement for 2015/16 had not increased since the previous year: “It is clear that pharmacy is now operating in a climate of ‘more for less’ and the settlement represents a pay cut when measured against the underlying rate of inflation and overall growth in prescription numbers over the last year.”