DDA chairman Dr Richard West has urged dispensing practices to write to local politicians to highlight rural challenges and concerns about the dispensing fee.

In his address to members ahead of the new fee scale to be published on Thursday 27 October, Dr West highlighted concerns that the dispensing fee no longer reflects increasing workload. Elements of concern include:

• Out of date methodology
• Lack of inflationary uplift
• Defined staff numbers.

His presentation also highlighted the problems caused by lack of rural proofing, including:

• GP shortage
• Workload increase
• Solutions urban centric
• Poor IT
• Less cross subsidy from dispensing as profits falling.

Dispensing GP teams are urged to write to local politicians using a new template letter.

The presentation also covered the following challenges in dispensing practice:

• Wales
• Scotland
• Reimbursement
• Pharmacy contract
• EPS
• PCN
• Hub and Spoke.

View the presentation (RW)