With Good Friday (3rd April) bank holiday occurring in the first five days of April 2026, pharmacy owners will be afforded an extra day, 6th April, to submit their FP34C declaration using the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal. However, this year, the 6th April is also a bank holiday (Easter Monday) which means that the benefit of the extended submission deadline may be lost for many pharmacies closed during the Easter holidays. For example, pharmacies closed during the long Easter weekend may only have two days (1st or 2nd April) to submit their March 2026 declaration to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). 

Therefore, Community Pharmacy England is providing advance notice to help pharmacy owners make arrangements to submit their March FP34C declarations by the 6th April to secure early advance payment on 10th April 2026.

Summary of key deadlines for declaring and submitting March 2026 activity for payment

Action Deadline
Submit EPS claim messages 5th April
Submit FP34C declaration via MYS 6th April
Dispatch FP10 prescription bundles to NHSBSA 6th April*

*The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has asked that pharmacy teams submit their FP10 prescription bundles as early as possible. However, in recognition of the busy Easter period and at the request of Community Pharmacy England, DHSC will accept FP10 prescription bundles dispatched to the NHSBSA no later than Tuesday 7th of April 2026.

Community Pharmacy England has set out a few scenarios below, depending on the pharmacy opening days over Easter, to assist pharmacy owners with making suitable arrangements to complete their FP34C declarations before the submission deadline on 6th April 2026.

Scenario 1 – Pharmacy closed over the long Easter weekend including bank holidays (BH)

 

Scenario 2 – Pharmacy closed on both Easter bank holidays (BH) but open on Saturday 4th April

Scenario 3 – Pharmacy closed on Good Friday but open on Easter Monday bank holiday (BH)

*Latest date to submit EPS claims for prescriptions dispensed in March. The requirement to submit electronic Claim Notification (CN) messages or Electronic Reimbursement Endorsement Messages (EREMs) within the first five days of the following month remains unchanged. To avoid any delays to payment for electronic prescriptions dispensed in March 2026 (Dispense Notification messages submitted by 31st March 2026), pharmacy owners must continue to submit the corresponding CN messages or EREMs no later than 5th April 2026.

FAQs

Q. Can I submit my March 2026 FP34C declaration on or after the 7th April?

A. No, pharmacy owners must submit their March FP34C declaration via MYS no later than 6th April 2026 to secure early advance payments on 10th April 2026. Community Pharmacy England requested the DHSC and the NHSBSA to make an exception by allowing FP34C submissions to be made by the end of 7th April without impacting the early advance payment date in order to minimise any cashflow risk for pharmacies. However, this change is not possible as the payment dates are stipulated by the banks and any extension to the FP4C submission deadline would have resulted in delayed early advance payments for all pharmacy owners. Other proposed solutions were deemed unfeasible by DHSC due to the limited time available for the NHSBSA to carry out any additional development work to facilitate the changes.

Q. Will I miss out on the early advance payment if I submit March 2026 FP34C declaration after 6th April?

A. Yes, those who submit their March FP34C figures late (after 6th April) will not receive any early advance payment on 10th April but instead will receive their advance payments on 1st May in accordance with the normal advance payment timetable.

For any queries regarding pharmacy payments, please contact contractorpayments@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.

The post FP34C and prescription bundle submission deadlines over Easter appeared first on Community Pharmacy England.