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Community pharmacy is stuck in a vicious circle. Pharmacies are closing at an alarming rate whilst the government is talking about moving care away from hospitals and into the community to focus on preventative care. While the government talks about this vision for the future, the stark reality is that pharmacies are already struggling to meet the current Pharmacy First thresholds. And now we discover that one of the key components that could create capacity in pharmacy to deliver more clinical services has been put on hold…indefinitely. The recently published Darzi review, which was commissioned after the new government came to power to assess the state of the NHS, praised the value of community pharmacies and preventative services. But it recognised the level of pharmacy closures across the country and warned pharmacy access could be 'at risk'. Community pharmacy is ideally placed to deliver the government's vision of preventative care in the community. But let's all be clear, moving preventative services into community pharmacies has, so far, been nowhere near as successful as it could have been due to the current climate pharmacies find themselves in. The Pharmacy First scheme is a testament to this. Just this week it was announced that consultation thresholds for the Pharmacy First scheme have been reduced from 30 consultations to 20. It's the second time in three months that the thresholds have been reduced and it follows an intervention from Community Pharmacy England who wanted to "save many pharmacies from missing out on a vital payment this month." In June alone, 3,269 participating pharmacies failed to meet the threshold - that's almost a third of all community pharmacies in England.

The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) and senior official of NHS Property Services (NHSPS) had a meeting on August 18 to review the rent policy for health centre pharmacies. Earlier, the association had sent a letter to NHSPS that was signed by pharmacies from across the sector, including single independents, pharmacy groups and members of the Company Chemists' Association. The letter outlined concerns about rent reviews and the impact of it on the co-located health centre pharmacies. Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of AIMp, said: "We outlined that whilst in the past, the norm established by the industry, was to base rents for co-located pharmacies primarily based on patient list size, (and taking account of a few other factors), the industry now needs to revise the basis on which rents are determined for co-located pharmacies." The association, on behalf of the pharmacy sector, met the CEO of NHSPS and two of their senior directors (director or property management and their finance director).

Well Pharmacy has announced the acquisition of Lexon UK Holdings and Asurex Limited, a family-owned pharmaceutical wholesaler with five depots in Redditch, Leeds, Durham, East Kilbride and Dublin and a network of community pharmacies across the Midlands, Northwest, and Northeast of England. Lexon, is a family-owned business which has been in operation for over 25 years, running primarily as a pharmaceutical wholesaler for 3,000 retail pharmacy customers across the UK and Ireland. The business also operates 42 community pharmacies - currently trading as Knights Pharmacy - and is also a specialist developer and manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals and is a data and solutions provider to pharmacy. The acquisition will be notified to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Both parties have proactively engaged with the CMA in pre-notification discussions and look forward to continuing to do so productively during the CMA review period. Haider Choudrey, CFO of Bestway Group which own Well Pharmacy, said: "Through this acquisition we seek to augment our growth momentum and bring in even greater benefits to both community pharmacies and patients. Well Pharmacy had been searching for a target to expand its footprint and complement its growth trajectory and we are confident that Lexon fits this criterion."

O'Briens Pharmacy Group has sold Bispham Pharmacy as part of a strategic review of its nine-site portfolio, now reduced to eight, across the Fylde coast region. Christie and Co, the property adviser, recently announced that the group's popular Blackpool pharmacy business has been acquired by first-time buyer, Arif Bhuriya. Bispham Pharmacy, which dispenses around 4,500 items per month, is situated in the heart of Bispham's commercial centre, opposite a bustling shopping area. The community pharmacy has been in this location since February 2021, following a minor contract relocation. O'Briens Pharmacy Group provides pharmacy services across Fleetwood, Thornton-Cleveleys, Bispham, Burscough, Liverpool, and surrounding areas. Aisling O'Brien, owner of O'Briens Pharmacy, explained the rationale behind selling the Bispham site: "When we had a strategic review of our group, we saw Bispham as an ideal site to dispose of, knowing it would fare much better in the current climate as an owner-operated site.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee on Tuesday (June 30) renamed itself as Community Pharmacy England, promising a "strengthened commitment" to champion and engage with the sector. "The name Community Pharmacy England better reflects the breadth of work that we do to both represent and support community pharmacies in England. We are their champion," the pharmacy negotiator said. Explaining that the rebranding exercise was in line with proposals put forward by the Review Steering Group (RSG), it said the rebrand was part of its Transforming Pharmacy Representation (TAPR) work and that it would signal the beginning of a "new engagement strategy" to build stronger relationships with pharmacy owners. "Becoming Community Pharmacy England is much more than a name change or a new logo, it is a driver for cultural change across our organisation. "Our members want us to be more authoritative, representative, and influential, and rebranding gives us a clearer and stronger voice, helping us to better speak out for community pharmacy."

In its response to a Freedom of Information Request (FOI), the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has confirmed a net decrease of 101 pharmacies in England - with 371 closures and 270 new contracts. Meanwhile, the General Pharmaceutical Council data projected a drop of 43 registered pharmacies in England, Wales, and Scotland for the year ending March 31, 2023, compared to the preceding period. The data, released by business advisor Christie & Co in its annual pharmacy market review on Sept. 5, revealed a total of 14,328 pharmacies across all four UK country regions as of March 31, 2023, indicating a 0.3 per cent decrease from the previous year. Corporate operators experienced a net reduction of 249 pharmacies, while the total number of independent operators remained consistent with 2022. According to the study, the corporate sector saw the most substantial shift, with a 13.7 per cent reduction in businesses operating 300 or more pharmacies. Following closely, groups managing 11 to 15 pharmacies experienced a 5.6 per cent decrease. Christie & Co attributed this shift in group size to operators acquiring additional pharmacies through corporate disposal opportunities throughout the year.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy published a new report on Monday (January 23) that calls for "urgent action" to relieve funding pressure so there are "opportunities" for community pharmacy teams to deliver even more for their patients. The report highlights the need for a new "strategic vision" for pharmacy and highlights opportunities for the network to be empowered to deliver even more for patients. However, the manifesto also underlines that there are the very real risks that this opportunity may be lost if significant and ongoing pressures are not addressed. The recommendations are based on written and oral evidence gathered from frontline pharmacists, GPs, professional bodies and healthcare experts. To harness the potential of pharmacy, the report recommends the Government must take urgent action to relieve the funding pressures on the community pharmacy sector in the short term and review the long-term funding model for pharmacy. It also suggested the Government must harness the power of pharmacy to help the NHS deal with the COVID-19 backlog and the UK's growing healthcare challenges. It further recommended that future commissioning and funding must recognise that community pharmacy is the front door to the NHS for many patients.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has raised its concerns over rising cost of rent for its members. The association highlighted that pharmacy spending is shrinking, and therefore, the NHS Property Services must ensure viability of health centre pharmacies. In May, the NPA wrote to NHS Property Services to voice its concerns over the rising cost of rent after some of its members reported demands for a three-fold increase in rent. Many pharmacies operate in premises of which NHS Property Services is the landlord. In a letter last month to chief executive Martin Steele, NPA said: "The past years have seen far fewer patients in health centres and therefore using the on-site pharmacy - whilst the situation will change somewhat as we move out of the pandemic we expect a permanent impact on workload as practices handle more of their interactions virtually. "The NPA encourages NHS Property Services to review lease agreements involving community pharmacies and consider favourable changes to terms that are in line with current financial realities affecting the sector. This could avoid the loss of a pharmacy service to communities and the resulting loss of rental income to NHS Property Services."

With the UK General Election set for 4 July, pharmacy bodies are actively engaging with all political parties to secure support for the community pharmacy sector. They are pressing parties to address urgent issues such as pharmacy closures and medicine shortages. "The upcoming general election is a critical opportunity for us to strengthen supporters of community pharmacy in readiness for the new Parliament," said Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England (CPE). She stressed the need for unity within the sector in advocating for community pharmacy and raising awareness of the issues with election candidates from all parties. As the general election approaches, CPE has called upon all political parties to support pharmacies by "introducing a long-term sustainable funding model and reviewing the medicines supply chain, including much-needed short-term relief measures."

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called on the NHS and the Department of Health to immediately publish the government-commissioned analysis of pharmacy underfunding and reveal the true scale of the crisis. Commissioned by NHS England, the long-awaited independent review is expected to "lay bare the perilous financial state" of community pharmacies, which is a vital part of the nation's health infrastructure. However, the NPA is concerned that the government may delay its release until after current funding consultations are concluded. The NPA argued that the public needs to understand the fragile nature of the pharmacy network before any new deal can be agreed. It has also warned health officials not to hide "the true scale of funding needed to reverse a decade of swingeing cuts", which has forced record numbers of pharmacy closures. NPA chair Nick Kaye said: "It would be a scandal to keep that evidence buried secret and leave MPs, pharmacies and the public in the dark." He acknowledged that the new government has inherited a crisis in pharmacy funding and emphasised that it will need to take "strong action" to maintain access to medicines.

The Department of Health and Social Care has updated the list of community pharmacies eligible for the Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) and approved 43 cases out of 63 applications, bringing the the total number of eligible pharmacies in England to 1,445. Earlier this year, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) invited community pharmacy contractors to apply for a review if they believed there were any inaccuracies in relation to pharmacy premises addresses or unforeseen circumstances affecting access, such as a permanent roadblock. Submitted applications were reviewed by the relevant NHSE&I regional pharmacy contract team, and determined by the relevant pharmaceutical services regulations committees (PSRC). Due to the workload pressures seen over winter, the review deadline was extended, giving contractors applying for a review two full months to complete their applications. This also pushed back the announcement of the outcome of the review, but where an application has been successful, PhAS payments will be backdated to the start of the scheme.

The Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) has rebranded to be known as Community Pharmacy to present a strengthened and unified identity to the local NHS, local government and other stakeholders, as the local voice of community pharmacy. "There are now 58 LPCs in England. The number of LPCs has reduced from 69, with further consolidation expected by April 2024 to a network of 48 local organisations," said Community Pharmacy England. "The changes mean there will be better alignment between LPCs and the 42 NHS Integrated Care Systems in England, who have taken on the responsibility for commissioning pharmaceutical services delegated by NHS England." "This marks a significant milestone, as similar to Community Pharmacy England, LPCs have been undergoing changes to respond to the Review Steering Group (RSG) recommendations on pharmacy representation. The sector voted in favour of the RSG proposals in the summer of 2022, and since then progress has been made on many of the changes at both local and national level as part of the Transforming Pharmacy Representation (TAPR) Programme."

Today I'm proud to share with you the statement we submitted to the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership in which we set out what professional leadership means to RPS. I recognise we haven't always been clear in communicating our ideas to members and our external stakeholders. Through the Commission, and our own Independent Review of member participation and communications, we are determined to remedy this. We're committed to lead pharmacy in the best interest of patients and the professions. This means that sometimes we will need to take difficult decisions. We will do the right thing for the long term, ultimately driving what's best for patient care. There are some key changes we believe are necessary to fulfil the profession's ambitions. To achieve a more unified approach to pharmacy leadership, we believe both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians should be represented by RPS within professional faculties that capitalise on the strengths of each discipline whilst retaining distinct professional voices. Many of our members work with pharmacy technicians every day and know just how essential they are to their role and to patient care. We feel the same at RPS and it makes perfect sense to evolve into an organisation where both professions can advance their scope of practice, working in alignment as part of the wider multi-professional team. We will develop and implement post-registration curricula and credentialing for all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working with patients and the public. To do this we will require formal delegation of authority by the GPhC.

After engaging with contractors and stakeholders of NHS Community Pharmacy, the pharmacy review steering group (RSG) is planning to put proposals to contractors' vote before Easter 2022. The group, made up of representatives from the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, Company Chemists' Association and independent community pharmacy, was formed in late 2020 to explore the future of community pharmacy network support. After engagement with the sector, the RSG has defined the roles of the local and national representative bodies, considered the contractor decision-making process, and worked through analysis and suggestions on local representation. It is now focusing on national representation and support.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has commissioned Professor David Taylor of University College London to investigate the implications of all-time high inflation rates on community pharmacies in the UK. Professor Taylor's will assess rates of inflation affecting community pharmacy across the UK, using public data sources whilst examining inflated costs in the context of the current five year contractual framework in England (2019-2024). He would review the EY (Ernst & Young) report into pharmacy funding, to identify whether current inflationary pressures could change any of the findings and consider the policy implications and impacts of inflationary pressures, including pharmacy's ability to prepare for a more clinically focused future and maintain current core services. NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said: "Inflationary pressures are eating into the limited funds provided by the NHS for pharmacy services. We believe the real level of inflation for pharmacy businesses could be higher than the CPI inflation rate, which itself is at a 40 year high. Staff and locum costs in the sector as well as medicines costs have risen dramatically.

Community pharmacies must be involved in future planning for public health emergencies, especially in cases where a quick response is needed such as the Covid-19 pandemic, a European-wide research has recommended. The project, co-led by the University of Huddersfield professor Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar in medicines and healthcare, focuses on how community pharmacies dealt with the pandemic, covering 31 pharmacy interventions on Covid-19 in 32 countries in Europe. The interventions include prevention, response, and recovery measures. It also covers improved access to medicines, expanded powers granted to pharmacies, rapid antigen testing, along with Covid-19 vaccination. Community pharmacists in the US, Canada, and Australia have been engaged in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response strategic guidance after the 2009 flu pandemic. The aim of the research is to map the current reported practice and trends and review the pharmacies' intervention in Europe.

The 2025/26 pharmacy contract consultation will include a review of the medicine margin and reimbursement arrangements, health and care minister Stephen Kinnock has confirmed. Kinnock made this statement in response to a written question from Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, who asked the secretary of state for health and social care, if he will review the reimbursement system for pharmacies and GP practices dispensing medicines. Kinnock stated that consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) for the 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) has started and will include "reviewing the allowance for medicine margin as part of funding, and any further changes to the reimbursement arrangements." However, he clarified that there are currently no plans to review the reimbursement system for general practices (GPs) dispensing medicines. Kinnock said: "Dispensing practices receive a dispensing fee, approximately £2.00 to £2.30 per item, which is intended to cover dispensing costs. "This fee is calculated based on forecasted volumes of prescriptions to be dispensed and the size of the funding envelope, according to a methodology agreed by the Department, the General Practitioners Committee (GPC), NHS Employers, and the Welsh Government."

In partnership with Oxford University Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched the 'RPS Pharmacy and Pharmacology' reports. RPS Pharmacy and Pharmacology Reports is a new, fully open access journal and the sister journal to Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacology. The journal is edited by Professor Dennis Douroumis, professor in Pharmaceutical Technology and Process Engineering at the University of Greenwich. RPS said: "The journal aims to create a truly interdisciplinary forum for members of the pharmacy, pharmacology, chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology communities alike to come together to develop life-changing medicines of the future. The journal prioritises scientifically sound results from pharmacy and pharmacology researchers across the world." The journal operates a rapid review and publication process to ensure impactful research is disseminated as quickly as possible. All RPS members are eligible to receive a 20 per cent discount on the article processing charge.

Dispensing activity by community pharmacy in England has witnessed a 4.2 per cent increase across the year 2021 till March 2022, the Pharmacy Market Review 2022 report revealed. The report launched by Christie & Co, said: "All pharmacy settings saw improvements in dispensing numbers, with standard community settings seeing the highest increase of 4.2 per cent, with the average moving to 7,173 items, albeit still below the combined average." "The independent sector fared better than corporate pharmacy, with a combined average increase of 3.5 per cent versus a 1.8 per cent increase in corporate dispensing. Despite some improvement, integrated pharmacies remained the lowest at 1.9 per cent, in part due to the continued restrictions on patient access." Dispensing activity for England across the year to March 2022 increased by 4.5 per cent to an average of 7,765 items per month, reversing the decline witnessed in 2021.

Numark Pharmacy is hosting an event today (December 4) to mark the takeover of one of the former Lloyds Pharmacy stores in Cumnock, Scotland. It has renamed the acquired pharmacy on Tanyard as Rowlands Pharmacy Cumnock HC, which will be reopened to the community on Monday. Rowlands Pharmacy Cumnock HC, which is the latest to reopen in Scotland, will be run by Pharmacy manager Meghan Mcewan, supported by a team of colleagues from the local community. At the new branch, the team will oversee prescription dispensary, vaccination services, over-the-counter medications, emergency contraception, and medication review.