The PSNC have agreed with the DOH to simplify the way we are paid for dispensing Methadone Prescriptions to patients from July 1st. 

This sounds great in principle - we are to be paid for "patient interactions" and not for putting the medication into measured bottles. 
We have been told that the swings will equal the roundabouts; and that the total remuneration for methadone dispensing remains about the same. 

The devil, however, is in the detail...opponents to this simplification have noted that the fees you will receive from July 1st may be significantly lower than you currently receive - if you are fortunate to dispense in daily dose bottles in advance.

 There is a lot of chatter around at the moment about this; and contractors are doing the maths - and many that have invested significantly in their methadone service think that they will lose thousands of pounds a month. There has been a calculator published by East Riding & Hull LPC - which we have hosted on our site.   I urge you to use it, and let us know how you think you will be affected by these changes...

The LPC Executive team attended a very useful "joint" Regional Meeting in York yesterday with colleagues from LPCs in the Northern Region and Yorkshire Region. We heard a number of excellent presentations on a wide variety of subjects. Time after time we were told that contractors must deliver the services we have, or it will be difficult to negotiate new ones in the future...it's no use sitting back moaning about the lack of new services if you don't do the ones we have!    Perhaps the most sobering thoughts came from the presentation we had about simplification of the Drug Tariff to improve transparency and reduce endorsing. The LPC will issue an article about the  changes in the pink bulletin soon - and will have the presentation available on the website shortly. We are entering a very different world in July; so please examine the changes carefully and let us know your thoughts!