The NHS Pharmacy Contraception Advanced Service (PCS) is a tiered pharmacy contraception service. It is designed to:
- offer people greater choice where they can access contraception services from
- create extra capacity in primary care and sexual health clinics (or equivalent) to support meeting the demand for more complex assessments
The objectives of the Tier 1 service are to:
- provide a model for community pharmacy teams to continue the provision of oral contraception (OC) supplies initiated in general practice or sexual health clinics (or equivalent) - this will be undertaken using PGDs to support the review and supply process
- establish an integrated pathway between existing services and community pharmacies that provides people with greater choice and access when considering continuing their current form of OC
The service specification and associated PGDs can be found at: NHS England » NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service Tier 1 – Ongoing supply of oral contraception
Registration for the Contraception Service
Pharmacy contractors can register to provide the Advanced Service from 24 April 2023 via the Manage Your Service (MYS) system.
In order to register for the service pharmacy contractors are required to meet all of the terms of the specification including competence requirements of staff (which may involve completion of training).
Pharmacy contractors must use an approved IT system for service delivery. NHS England has been working with Cegedim Healthcare Solutions and EMIS:Pharmoutcomes to develop end-to-end digital solutions to support the Contraception Service, including the API with the NHSBSA
Service delivery can begin once these requirements have been met, and registration via MYS has been completed.
Claiming for the Contraception Service.
Pharmacy contractors who have registered for the service will be able to submit a claim for the reimbursement of products supplied and fees for consultations provided. These claims will be submitted on the MYS system. Reimbursement for products supplied and consultations provided will take place in the prescription month of when the claims were submitted. For example, claims in April 2023 will be reimbursed alongside the April 2023 prescription month.