Commissioning woes

[mrmeds]

Our pharmacy has been one of two in our town that has agreed to stock the local PCT's palliative care list of drugs and have done so since before my time here (14 years !). We've never got paid anything other than the standard dispensing fees for the prescriptions involved ,and have often been called out by district nurses and duty doctors out of hours, often for no recompense other than feeling part of a team.
Imagine my joy when the PCT siad they were going to commission a Palliative care enhanced service that would pay the princely sum of £250 per annum AND compensation for any stock that expired.
So we filled in the form to express our interest and pointed out that we already offered this service and oftern coul be reached out of hours

Then..... we got the photocopied inpersonal letter telling us our pharmacy scored highly in points but others were more accessible.
It seems the nice new shiny Boots store with its pharmacy upstairs hidden at the back , where you have to drive through town centre traffic and pay to park is a better option. Granted , they open on a Sunday, between 11-5, but outside those hours I doubt you could get access to the pharmacy let alone one of their members of staff. ( You can park right outside our place and DN's have always been given the professional courtesy of straight in and out).

So it seems that a proven track record of service isn't enough, and the only pharmacy's that are capable of providing enhanced services are those that open on Sundays, which means large multiples in our part of the world.

Shall I give up now ?

[hibernia]

Shall I give up now ?

You probably should but it depends how stubborn you are.

Ask to see a copy of the criteria they used for accessibily, e.g. did it include free parking. I wouldn't waste any money on lawyers but implying that you have one interested in this case might help. At least you have the satisfaction of making work for them.

[Pharmanaut]

Well the urgent dispensing fee was withdrawn when the new contract arrived. Though some PCTs did allow claims direct from their funds.

You should be assured that the PCT have, as always, made the right decision, and walk away from this. Send them an invoice for the stock that you have already though.

[bobbin]

Shall I give up now?

Don't stock anything which is likely to sit there until it goes out-of-date (unless it's very cheap). Receiving compensation from the PCT for expired stock seems highly improbable. I really have no confidence in PCTs at all. Can you tell?

If I were you I would withdraw from the 'palliative care list' scheme and just make sure you've got the frequently prescribed essentials.