PSNC has announced a new national flu vaccination service for community pharmacies, as part of its agreement with the NHS on the community pharmacy funding settlement, which is worth £2.8 billion for the 2015/16 financial year.

Under the new Advanced Service, community pharmacies will be able to offer the NHS flu vaccination to at risk patients who are over the age of 18 years, which includes patients aged 65 years and over. Pharmacy contractors will receive £9.14 per administered dose of vaccination as well as reimbursement of vaccine costs. The fee includes remuneration of £7.64 per administered dose plus a fee of £1.50 per vaccination to recognise costs incurred by the contractor to provide the service, such as training and clinical waste disposal costs, explains PSNC.

The fees for flu vaccinations will come from national flu budgets and will be in addition to and outside of the £2.8 billion.

Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice, referred to the move as “a great step forward for pharmacy” which will “help the whole system reach the targets for vaccination set by the Chief Medical Officer”. He added that the organisation would support its members to ensure that they would be able to provide the service by the start of the upcoming flu season.

Rachel Sharples, pharmacy superintendent at Well, also welcomed the announcement, stating that: “It demonstrates a confidence in the role of pharmacy teams to support the increasing pressures on NHS services, beyond simply providing prescriptions,” while Marc Donovan, chief pharmacist, Boots UK agreed that it would give patients “more choice and easier access to their winter flu vaccination”.

John D’Arcy, managing director of Numark, said that “it is pleasing to see recognition of the efforts made by pharmacists in getting the flu service off the ground and delivering it to such widespread effect”.