The NHS Urgent Medicine Supply Advanced Service (NUMSAS) was first commissioned in 2016 to run until 31 March 2018, but in November 2017 NHS England extended the service for a further six months to 30 September 2018.
With advanced service revenue becoming increasingly important to pharmacies in England as part of the NHS community pharmacy contract, what can recent data reveal about pharmacy participation in the NUMSAS scheme?
Analysis
According to PharmData analysis, £543,346 was the total amount of fees for consultations paid to pharmacies for NUMSAS in 2017, and £240,489.29 was the total amount paid to cover the cost of medication dispensed in that period
- The use of the service has increased over time, peaking in December 2017
- 1,325 pharmacies in England generated income from the NUMSAS scheme in 2017, out of 11,928 in total, or about 11 per cent of pharmacies
- The top performing pharmacy in England for NUMSAS in 2017 was Karsons Pharmacy who received £10,180.50 in fees and £9,583.53 in drug cost reimbursement for a total of £19,764.03
- In perspective, the maximum amount of income that a pharmacy can earn per year from MURs is £11,200 per financial year
- The items most commonly dispensed as part of the scheme include salbutamol inhalers, sertraline and citalopram, and some of the items most commonly “not supplied” include tramadol and zopiclone
- All of the top 10 performing pharmacies for NUMSAS in 2017 had extended opening hours including weekend opening, as would be expected for an out of hours NHS service.
