Pharmacy Quality Scheme

The Pharmacy Quality Scheme 2023/24

The Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) forms part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF).

In 2023/24 there will be a reduced PQS, compared to the scheme originally planned last year. This means a reduced list of activities for contractors with a value of 60% of the originally planned PQS – £45m.

The remainder of the PQS funding (the additional £30m) will be used as an alternative to reducing fees to help ensure that there is no over-delivery of fees in this financial year. As the reduced PQS contains a clinical audit, DHSC and NHSE have agreed to Community Pharmacy England’s request to remove the clinical governance requirement for contractors to undertake two clinical audits in 2023/24.

Read more on Community Pharmacy England’s website.

PQS 2023/24: Medicines safety and optimisation domain

If you have chosen to engage with PQS quality criteria 2023/24, as part of the PQS 2023/24 quality criteria under the section: Medicines safety and optimisation, section 4.2 palliative and end of life care, you will need to know which pharmacies are commissioned in SNEE to provide the Specialist Medicines Service including the 16 critical palliative and end of life medicines plus Haloperidol.

Details as at Oct 2023 can be found on the SNEE ICB website, please login into this area:

SNEE ICB Health Care Professionals Area

You will find the details under Palliative and End of Life Care and Clostridium Difficile, which includes the emails for the pharmacies holding Haloperidol in the SNEE Specialist Medicines Service Pharmacy Providers list.

If you have chosen to engage with PQS, this information is essential to meeting the requirements of this domain.

Contractors can make their PQS declaration via MYS at any time during the declaration window, between 09.00 on 5 February 2024 and 23.59 on 1 March 2024.