PQS: The Aspiration payment window is now open

Community pharmacy contractors are now able to make a claim for an Aspiration payment for the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2021/22 on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Manage Your Service (MYS) portal.

The Aspiration payment is optional; if contractors do not want to claim it, it will not impact on the contractor’s ability to claim a PQS payment during the declaration period. There is also no requirement to have claimed for a previous PQS to claim an aspiration payment for PQS 2021/22.

If contractors wish to claim for an Aspiration payment, they should review the requirements of the PQS 2021/22, decide which domains they intend to meet when they make their PQS declaration (between 9am on 31st January and 11.59pm on 25th February 2022) and declare this on the MYS portal; contractors should click on the ‘Pharmacy Quality Scheme’ tab on MYS to make a claim.

Contractors, who wish to claim an Aspiration payment, must do so between 9am on 4th October 2021 and 11.59pm on 29th October 2021. 

Contractors will be paid their Aspiration payment on 1st December 2021.

Further information on the Pharmacy Quality Scheme can be found on the PSNC PQS hub page.

FAQs

Q. Do I have to have met the Gateway criteria before I can make a claim for an Aspiration payment?
No, however, contractors will need to have met the Gateway criteria on the day of their PQS declaration.

Q. What happens if I do not meet all the domains that I have aspired to meet (when claiming my Aspiration payment) when I make my PQS declaration during the declaration period?
Where pharmacies have been paid an Aspiration payment which exceeds their final declared total, they must pay back monies for domains which have subsequently not been achieved; this will be deducted automatically by the NHSBSA. Receiving an Aspiration payment is conditional on a contractor’s agreement to this arrangement.