The Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) is made up of two sets of criteria: gateway criteria and quality criteria.

Gateway criteria must be met to allow a pharmacy to participate in the scheme. For 2020 these are:

• Offering NMS and/or the NHS flu vaccination service
• Ensuring staff are able to access NHSmail from a shared NHSmail account with at least two live linked accounts
• Ensure that the pharmacies' NHS profile is up to date (this should have been completed in October 2019 – if this has not been completed the pharmacy will not be able to claim for any quality criteria)
• Ensuring that 80 per cent of all registered pharmacy professionals (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) have achieved level 2 safeguarding status for children and vulnerable adults in the last two years when the declaration is made.

Quality criteria are grouped into a number of domains and if achieved will lead to receiving quality points. Quality points lead to payments. These are discussed further on the next page.

The PQS will evolve over the period of the CPCF agreement with quality criteria becoming gateway criteria, which will in turn will become part of the Terms of Service for all community pharmacies.

There will not be a single date for review as with the previous scheme. There will be a review period (February 3-28, 2020) during which pharmacies will make their declaration of meeting gateway criteria and quality criteria.