Distance Selling, E-Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy – they’re all the same! And they require an approved application under Regulation 25 for a new contract to be granted.
Applications under Regulation 25 remain an exempt application and therefore assuming you can provide evidence to NHS England about how you will meet your contractual obligations then your application should be successful. Unfortunately, many have failed to grasp the Distance Selling model and many applications have been refused.
I had feedback the other day from a pharmacist who was astounded their application was refused given these applications are an exemption. Upon reviewing his application form, little effort can be made to consider the prosed business model and how it would differentiate from a retail/community pharmacy. It is these applications that are being refused.
Furthermore, recent appeals data has shown only few cases whereby the NHS Litigation Authority have granted a Distance Selling contract after going to appeal. The feedback is that many applicants are simply failing to grasp the content.
We recognise that whilst Regulation 25 remains an exemption these types of applications will become increasingly popular as they represent the best chance to succeed in a new pharmacy contract application.
Are you looking to submit an application for a Distance Selling pharmacy?
Do you need some advice, assistance or guidance?
Pharmacy Consulting can help. And of course, we’d love to hear from you.
Antony Boonen can be contacted on 01252 302 342 or [email protected].