Pharmacy First fee uplift confirmed for 2026/27
Per-consultation fee remains at £15.00. Threshold incentives unchanged: £500 at 20 PF consults (T1), £1,000 at 30 (T2). PharmSage automatically applies new rates from 1 April.
What's new in NHS community pharmacy
Curated updates from NHS Digital, NHS BSA, PSNC, NHS England and NICE that affect how PharmSage operates. Sprint 6 will pull this list live from the official feeds; for now we curate manually.
P9 verification mandatory for POM-prescribing pathways
NHS Login confirms P9 verification level is now required for any Pharmacy First consultation that issues a prescription-only medicine. PharmSage refuses anything below P9 at the OIDC callback.
MESH workflow GPCITOPCS now generally available
NHS Digital has lifted the regional rollout restrictions on the GPCITOPCS Update Record workflow. PharmSage now dispatches the FHIR Bundle via MESH the moment a Pharmacy First consultation completes (with patient consent).
Submission deadline reminder — 5th of each month
NHS BSA confirms no extension to the 5th-of-month deadline for service claims. PharmSage produces a submission-ready pack (CSV summary + signed cover letter) for upload to the MYS portal.
Sore throat pathway eligibility expanded to age 5+
NICE has updated CKS guidance: the FeverPAIN-based assessment is now appropriate from age 5. PharmSage pathway updated 2026-02-12.
Spine signing certificate rotation Q2 2026
NHS Digital has scheduled a Spine signing-certificate rotation for Q2. PharmSage will pre-load the new cert; expect zero downtime on EPS dispatch.
Annual DSP Toolkit submission window opens
Submission window: 1 January – 30 June. Standards Met required before any production NHS API access. PharmSage publishes the evidence pack on /docs/NHS-DATA-SECURITY-CENTRE.
Subscribe to updates
Pharmacies on the PharmSage network receive a weekly digest of NHS updates by email, plus immediate alerts when something changes that affects an active consultation flow (e.g. EPS endpoint rotation, MYS deadline change).
Reference: PSNC Service Specifications · NHS England Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework · NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries.