Thank you for your request for information about the following:

I would like to learn more about prescription fees paid to pharmacists by the NHS. May I have a link to your relevant web page please. What is the fee structure for a pharmacist dispensing a prescription, please?

Your request was received on 7 September 2023 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

On 12th November you added the following queries:

What is an "item"? Do 84 tablets in three packs of 28 count as "one " item? What are the "mulpiple activity" fees?

Response

I would like to learn more about prescription fees paid to pharmacists by the NHS:

You'll get £1.27 per item as a standard Single Activity Fee. There are additional fees which you may also qualify for. These are set out in Part IIIA of the Drug Tariff and include:

• Fee for dispensing an unlicensed medicine

• Fee for measuring and fitting certain appliances

• Home delivery of certain appliances

• Addition fees for dispensing oral liquid methadone

• Controlled drug fee

• Expensive item fee.

May I have a link to your relevant web page please:

Pharmacy payment information is available below:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/payments-and-pricing

We also have answers to common questions available on NHSBSA Prescription Services’ Knowledge Base:

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/category/?articlecategory=NHS%20Prescription%20Services&id=CAT-01002&parentid=

What is an item?

An item is the same drug, strength and presentation on a prescription form.

Do 84 tablets in three packs of 28 count as "one " item?

If an item is written on a prescription multiple times, that is, the same drug, strength and presentation, you will receive a fee for each time the item appears on the prescription.

Where an item incurs more than one fee, you will receive the number of appropriate fees for the item multiplied by the number of times it appears on the prescription.

The appropriate number of patient charges will be applied, for example, if an item of identical name, strength and presentation appears twice on the same prescription form, only one set of patient charge(s) will be applied.

The prescription will be processed in line with Drug Tariff policy, available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/drug-tariff

What are the “multiple activity” fees?

This information is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority. There are no multiple activity fees, only the Single Activity Fee. Information on the Single Activity Fee (SAF) is available on the following Knowledge Base Article:

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-01397/en-us

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