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The new Labour government's first budget has not been well received by community pharmacies, who are 'deeply worried' about the increase in National Insurance and the national living wage. They have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the Autumn Budget 2024 for lacking measures to address pharmacy closures. Commenting on the Chancellor's Budget, Paul Rees, CEO of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said: "Millions of people who depend on local pharmacies will be holding their breath today, hoping that the £22.6bn increase in health spending announced by the Chancellor will include money to stem the devastating closure of local health services in the past decade. "There's absolutely no mention in the Budget of action to halt the closure of our vital NHS pharmacy network, which has been shrinking at the rate of seven a week as pharmacies are forced to close through underfunding." According to the NPA, around 700 pharmacies have shut since just the start of 2022 due to the impact of a 40 per cent cut to funding coupled with rising demand.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), Community Pharmacy England (CPE), and the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) have united in urging the government to shield community pharmacies from the impact of the Budget increases. In a joint letter to the health secretary Wes Streeting MP, they have highlighted that rises in employers' National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage could cost community pharmacies £200 million a year in unplanned costs. They have warned the government that 'without mitigation, these additional costs will push many pharmacies more towards insolvency', leading to more closures and cuts to vital health services for patients. From April 2025, the national living wage will increase by 6.7 per cent to £12.21 per hour, and the national minimum wage for 18-20-year-olds will increase by 16.3 per cent to £10 per hour.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has raised 'serious concerns' about the impact of the increase in National Insurance on GP practices, and is calling for adequate funding to cover these additional costs. In the 2024 Budget of the new Labour government, the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) was raised by 1.2 percentage points to 15%, effective from 6 April 2025. The per-employee threshold at which employers start paying NICs was also reduced from £9,100 per year to £5,000 per year. RCGP Chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne has warned that this extra financial burden could lead to the closure of some GP practices. "We have very serious concerns about the impact of the increase in National Insurance employer contributions on GP practices right across the country, many of whom are already struggling to keep their doors open and make ends meet due to historic chronic underfunding.

The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has warned that England's 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) may need to allocate an extra £37 million from their budgets annually for the next five years due to the spiralling tax rates. The government's Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) rebate rate increased more than five-fold in the past two years, the BGMA said in its white paper released on Monday (October 30). The report, conducted by consultancy firm Conclusio in consultation with local NHS leaders, examined the potential effects of the VPAS on ICB budgets. BGMA said that due to the elevated VPAS rate, each ICB in England will experience significant increases in expenses for branded generics and biosimilars annually - a consequence of reduced competition.

Health leaders have said that delivering faster and more productive patient care would be difficult unless NHS capital budgets are nearly doubled to at least £14.1 billion from the current spending of £7.7 billion. The NHS Confederation has highlighted the impact that low levels of capital investment have had over the last decade in its report published today (29 November). The report, 'Investing to save: The capital requirement for a more sustainable NHS in England', revealed that the UK has lagged behind other comparable countries in terms of health capital investment for more than five decades, resulting in less productivity. It revealed that the NHS now has the sixth lowest number of CT and MRI scanners per million people of the OECD countries.

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland has advised pharmacies to continue providing rota services on Easter after learning that many pharmacies are unwilling to provide the services on Easter holidays. "It is extremely regrettable that community pharmacy representatives have advised that access to rota pharmacies in some parts of Northern Ireland will be reduced over the Easter holidays," department said. They have also stated that despite a commitment of recurrent investment, support for new patients assessed by Trusts as requiring blister packs may be restricted. These actions have the potential to impact on patients and other parts of the Health and Social Care system. The department has also called the CPNI's demand to increase the funding up to 50 per cent in the sector "unrealistic" in the current financial climate. It said: "Financial pressures across the entire NI public sector are severe with an extremely challenging health budget anticipated for 2023/24." "The Department is therefore facing a significant funding gap just to maintain existing services and the whole Health and Social Care system is an extremely unpredictable and fragile position. The core funding envelope available to community pharmacies in NI has increased by 16% over the past three years."

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has disclosed alarming figures on pharmacy closure in England, attributing them to the impact of funding cuts. According to NPA analysis of NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) data, 222 pharmacies permanently closed their doors in 2024, marking the second-highest annual closure rate on record. This equates to an average of four pharmacies closing each week. Nearly 90 per cent of council areas have seen at least one pharmacy shut permanently in just the last two years. NPA chair Nick Kaye voiced concern that pharmacies have been "pushed to breaking point" by 40 per cent real terms cuts to their budgets and the ones still open are left "hanging on by their fingertips" and could be forced to close without "an urgent increase in their funding." "It is patients that have lost out the most, with more people in isolated areas having to travel further for vital medication as well as access to medical advice convenient to them," he said.