This is a message on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care
Further to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2025/26 agreement and following consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE), this is advance notice for contractors that a new Part VIIIA category, Category H, will be introduced in March 2026.
As part of the 2025/26 funding settlement, we set out a range of actions to improve medicine margin arrangements. This included changing reimbursement price-setting arrangements for products in Category C where there are multiple source products. Currently, the product reimbursement price listed in Category C is based on a specific product – often because it is the only brand available. However, there are some products where there is more than one supplier - these will begin to move into Category H, where the price will be calculated using information from suppliers obtained under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018.
Products currently listed in Category C, where there is more than one supplier, will move to Category H in a phased approach.