Pharmacy contract consultation to review medicine margin and reimbursement, says Kinnock

The 2025/26 pharmacy contract consultation will include a review of the medicine margin and reimbursement arrangements, health and care minister Stephen Kinnock has confirmed.

Kinnock made this statement in response to a written question from Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, who asked the secretary of state for health and social care, if he will review the reimbursement system
for pharmacies and GP practices dispensing medicines.

Kinnock stated that consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) for the 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) has started and will include “reviewing the allowance for medicine margin as part of
funding, and any further changes to the reimbursement arrangements.”

However, he clarified that there are currently no plans to review the reimbursement system for general practices (GPs) dispensing medicines.

Kinnock said: “Dispensing practices receive a dispensing fee, approximately £2.00 to £2.30 per item, which is intended to cover dispensing costs.

“This fee is calculated based on forecasted volumes of prescriptions to be dispensed and the size of the funding envelope, according to a methodology agreed by the Department, the General Practitioners Committee (GPC), NHS
Employers, and the Welsh Government.”