Changes to allow hub and spoke dispensing between different legal entities are likely to come in late 2025, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has said.

But changes to supervision legislation are not imminent, although the General Pharmaceutical Society (GPhC) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) are expected to update their standards and guidance.

Hub and spoke dispensing changes 'likely in late 2025'

In an update on its website, published yesterday (6 January), the negotiator confirmed that while new legislation for hub and spoke dispensing is 'pending', 'its introduction is delayed and now likely in late 2025'.

And in an additional briefing document, CPE said it would 'update pharmacy owners once DHSC [the Department of Health and Social Care] has given more clarity on timescales'.

In December, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock confirmed that the government was 'working towards introducing legislation to enable hub and spoke dispensing between different legal entities in 2025'.

He added: 'This change will be enabled via amendments to both primary and secondary legislation, and is subject to the usual parliamentary processes.’

'No change is imminent' on supervision legislation but RPS guidance may change

The government has conducted a consultation on two proposed legislative changes relating to supervision, but it is yet to publish its response.

The proposals are:

  1. To allow pharmacy technicians to dispense or supervise dispensing if given prior authorisation to do so by the pharmacist.
  2. To allow pharmacy staff to hand out pre-checked and bagged medicines (which have already had a clinical and accuracy check), in the absence of a pharmacist.

In its briefing document published this week, CPE confirmed that 'no change is imminent'.

But it said that the RPS has 'committed to reviewing its guidance on supervision' to take into account developments in pharmacy practice, including automated dispensing.

'The RPS guidance on supervision is likely to be updated after planned GPhC standards/rules for responsible pharmacists and standards for superintendent pharmacists have been issued,' CPE said.

Original pack dispensing in place from 1 January as IT systems 'work to implement' payment mechanism

The CPE update published this week also noted that original pack dispensing (OPD) began to be applicable to NHS dispensing in England from 1 January.

Under OPD, pharmacists must 'consider if it is reasonable and appropriate to dispense up to 10% more or less than the prescribed quantity stated on a prescription if it would mean that as a result the medicine can be supplied as a complete/original pack', CPE said.

But some products, such as schedule 2-4 Controlled Drugs, are exempt.

CPE has published further guidance, including an OPD decision-making flowchart to help pharmacists decide whether to dispense an original pack.

The negotiator stressed that under OPD, it was important to ensure that the dispensed quantity field on the prescription’s Electronic Reimbursement Endorsement Message (EREM) was populated correctly to ensure pharmacies are paid for what they have dispensed.

And it confirmed that IT system suppliers 'are now working to implement the OPD +/-10% reimbursement changes' to enable pharmacies to be reimbursed correctly.

'It is expected that pharmacy owners will start to introduce the change from 1st January 2025, depending on their IT system readiness. You will not be reimbursed for dispensing up to 10% more or less than the quantity prescribed until your IT system is ready (and able to communicate the dispensed quantity information to the NHSBSA [the NHS Business Services Authority] in the EREM),' CPE said.