New Medicines Service (NMS)

The New Medicine Service (NMS) was the fourth Advanced Service to be added to the NHS community pharmacy contract; it commenced on 1st October 2011.The service provides support for people with long-term conditions newly prescribed a medicine to help improve medicines adherence; it is initially focused on particular patient groups and conditions.Since the introduction of the NMS in October 2011, more than 90% of community pharmacies in England have provided it to their patients. Initial funding for the service was agreed until March 2013, and since then funding has been extended pending a decision on the long-term future of the service.Quarterly Submissions

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) now administers the collection of completed MUR quarterly reports from pharmacy contractors on behalf of NHS England – South (Wessex).

There are 2 ways in which to submit the information to the NHSBSA:

  1. You can use the online tool to enter your information. This is similar to the way the CPAF survey is completed. This is accessed via the NHSBSA website http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/5539.aspx Please enter and submit all of the required information that you would normally enter into the reporting templates. This will be automatically uploaded into the NHSBSA system.

or

  1. Download the electronic reporting templates from the NHSBSA website http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/5539.aspx, complete the required information and save this as an .xlxs file in a local drive on your PC. Further information and guidance can also be found on the link above. You will then need to upload the electronic reporting templates to the NHSBSA Information Services Portal.

It is recommend that you use option 1 (survey tool) unless you are bulk uploading for a number of pharmacies in one go.

Please note: When the quarterly reports are requested, you are required to submit them as one of the ongoing conditions of providing the service. The collated data generated from the reports is very useful and can be used to support cases for service development and improvement.

If you have any queries please contact:

Les Riggs, Primary Care Commissioning Assistant, NHS England – South (Wessex)

Phone: 07730 371074 Email:leslieriggs@nhs.net

Directions, Guidance and Service Specification

The legal basis for the service is provided by the Secretary of State Directions. The service specification provides a ‘plain English’ version of the Directions.  The Directions, Service Specification and NHS Employers Guidance are available here

Further information about funding, learning & skills, learning materials, comms with GP practices, patient consent, data requirements, interview schedule, working with hospital colleagues and further resources are available here