Primary Care Rebate Schemes

Primary Care Rebate Schemes (PCRS) are arrangements offered by companies which offer retrospective financial rebates to the NHS against products dispensed by primary care NHS dispensing contractors (i.e. a community pharmacy, a dispensing doctor or a dispensing appliance contractor) and the prison pharmacy service provider.

Detailed guidance on the process for the proposal, assessment and implementation of PCRS in NHS Scotland along with an application pack to propose a PCRS can be found below:

NHS Scotland PCRS Assessment Process: Guidance for Companies (V6).

NHS Scotland PCRS Application Pack: Guidance for Companies (V10).

Below is a register containing a list of all current NHS Scotland primary care rebate schemes (PCRS) outside of the Patient Access Scheme arrangements.

NHS Scotland PCRS Register (Last updated: 08/05/2026).

Primary care rebates are also a standard feature of NHS Scotland Patient Access Schemes which are commonly agreed at the point of market entry of new medicines, regardless of whether the medicine will in practice be supplied in primary care. A list of medicines with Patient Access Schemes can be found on the Scottish Medicines Consortium website.