pharmaceutical services


pharmaceutical services

Those services which, as defined in the UK, relate to the supply of drugs, medicines and appliances prescribed by NHS practitioners. Gross pharmaceutical services (PS) expenditure includes total drugs bill costs and dispensing costs. Net PS expenditure is the gross expenditure minus associated income from prescription charges.
Funding for the total drugs bill is subject to local resource limits and forms part of primary care trusts’ (PCTs’) Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) discretionary allocations. However, funding for dispensing costs is provided from the national-demand-led or non-discretionary budget, and is not subject to local resource limits and does not form part of a PCT's HCHS discretionary allocation.