The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has welcomed the Chancellor's commitment to increase the NHS budget, hoping that 'community pharmacies benefit from
this investment'.
The association is urging the government to address years of underfunding so that community pharmacies can avoid staff lay-offs to cover the increasing costs of the
national living wage.
The government's uplift of the National Living Wage was confirmed in its latest budget announcement to tackle the cost of living crisis. The NHS budget will also be
increased in each of the next two years by £3.3bn.
A recent NPA commissioned report by Professor David Taylor from University College London predicted that wage inflation and other cost pressures could combine with
funding cuts to lead to cut-backs and pharmacy closures.