While community pharmacists will welcome additional funding and the opportunity of expanding their services to encompass their staff, they must be mindful of the VAT implications for record keeping and for irrecoverable VAT.

Plans from government will see NHS funds directed to support pharmacies for expanding their community services – such as blood pressure monitoring and oral contraception advice.

Existing legislation already saw supply of medical care by a registered pharmacist to be exempt from VAT – but on May 1 the exemption was extended to include services of medical care where they are carried out by staff directly supervised by a registered pharmacist.

The change enables pharmacists to delegate and increase the amount of care they provide to the community.