The Dispensing Pool is a fixed annual pot shared proportionally across the whole network. Your payment can change because your dispensing volume has shifted relative to your 12-month rolling mean, or because total network dispensing has changed — meaning your share moves even if your volume stayed the same. Check your reconciliation statement and compare volumes month-on-month. If you believe the calculation is wrong, contact Public Health Scotland.

A flat rate of £2,500 per month (2024/25) paid to every contractor on the pharmaceutical list on the first day of the dispensing month. It is not based on dispensing activity — it recognises the fixed costs of running a pharmacy. Part-time ESPs receive a pro-rated amount based on contracted hours.

Your monthly advance is 100% of your mean monthly payment over the previous 12 months, paid at the start of the month before claims are processed. Once PHS processes your submission, your actual payment is reconciled against the advance — any difference carries forward to the following month.

Month one advance is (days open ÷ 31) × £18,000. A pharmacy opening on the 1st of a 31-day month receives the full £18,000. From month two, the advance is based on the mean of actual months available. If you took over from an existing contractor, you inherit their dispensing history.

Submit at least 80% of all eligible prescription claims electronically — including care home, instalment and stoma claims. Fall below 80% and you receive nothing for that month. The annual pool is £5.76m (2024/25). If the failure was genuinely outside your control, apply to your Health Board for an exceptional payment.

You receive a share of the £36m annual pool (2024/25) proportional to the number of patients registered and assigned a care plan on the last day of the month. Patients without a care plan assigned by month end do not count for that month.

If your combined Establishment Payment, Dispensing Pool payment and Pharmaceutical Needs Weighting falls below £4,412 per month, you should automatically receive a top-up to bring the total to £4,412. If you are not receiving it, check your ESP classification with your Health Board.

The difference between what you pay for a medicine and what the Drug Tariff reimburses. For Part 7 generics, the tariff price is intentionally set higher than the expected market price — so when you source competitively, you keep the difference. This is a deliberate and agreed part of your income, negotiated annually between CPS and Scottish Government.

Part 7 covers the most commonly prescribed generic medicines. Prices are set at the start of the financial year so that across the basket of Part 7 lines, contractors as a whole retain a target level of margin. Individual lines deliver more or less depending on market conditions, but the basket as a whole is designed to hit the target.

The basket is disrupted and margin falls. CPS can apply to PHS for a price adjustment — but needs contractor evidence. Report via the CPS Shortage Reporter at cps.scot with the medicine, pack size, actual price paid and supplier. Once granted, the adjustment applies for the whole month.

The floor below which total network margin delivery cannot fall. For 2025/26 it is £120m — the highest level ever agreed. If network margin falls below this, Scottish Government and Health Boards must make up the shortfall. It is measured across the network as a whole, not per pharmacy.

£100m for 2025/26 moved from the Part 7 Drug Tariff into guaranteed remuneration funding for the network. This replaced the traditional clawback arrangement and gives Scottish contractors income certainty that does not exist in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

An annual survey measuring what margin is actually flowing through the network. Selected contractors provide purchase invoices for a sample of Part 7 drugs, validated by CPS and verified by PHS. If your pharmacy is selected, participation is a terms of service obligation — it is not optional.

Your rate appears on your monthly payment schedule from PHS and in your dispensing system. Stoma, instalment and care home claims require separate submission processes and count towards your total. Monitor weekly — not just at month end — so you can fix issues before the deadline.

Yes. If the failure was genuinely outside your control, apply to your Health Board for an exceptional Service Efficiency Payment. Document the cause, when it occurred, and steps taken to resolve it. A software migration or system failure is likely to be considered. Apply as soon as possible.

All eligible claims — GP10 prescriptions, care home, instalment dispensing and stoma appliance claims. Care home, instalment and stoma each require separate submission processes and are the most common reason pharmacies fall below the 80% threshold.

Annotating a prescription before submission to indicate what was dispensed, in what quantity, and at what price. Correct endorsing lets PHS process your claim accurately. Errors can lead to under-reimbursement or rejection. Regular spot-checks of your team's endorsing practice are worthwhile.

The total remuneration budget for the community pharmacy network, negotiated annually between CPS and Scottish Government. Split into payment pools — Dispensing Pool, Establishment Payment, MCR and service payments — distributed based on activity, registration or flat rates. The 2024/25 Global Sum was £232.7m, uplifted 6%.

Global Sum payments are the core remuneration all contractors receive. Non-Global Sum arrangements are standalone contracts — stoma dispensing, ESP payments, new contractor payments, and the Post Registration Foundation scheme. These have their own terms and are unaffected by Global Sum uplift changes.

CPS secured a 4% uplift — approximately £9.31m in additional funding. Part One, agreed 1st May 2025, also confirmed £20m mapped from the Drug Tariff into guaranteed remuneration funding, and a £10m increase in the Guaranteed Minimum Income to £120m.

Contact Public Health Scotland directly. They can review the calculation and adjust your advance where appropriate. Keep records of your monthly dispensing volumes so you have evidence to support any query.

£3,000 per month for each month the service is available. Requires a pharmacist independent prescriber with an NHS prescribing number, available at least 25 hours per week and 45 weeks per rolling year. The NHS prescribing number is the most commonly missing step — without it no payment can be made.

Report immediately via the CPS Shortage Reporter at cps.scot. Include the medicine name, pack size, price you are paying and supplier. CPS uses these reports as primary evidence for price adjustment applications. Once granted, the adjustment applies for the whole month.

Your ESP classification is held by your NHS Health Board. Contact their pharmaceutical services team if unsure. ESP status affects your Establishment Payment calculation and entitles you to the top-up if your combined core payments fall below £4,412 per month.