The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) has called upon all pharmacy organisations to unite and collectively represent the sector. While
underlining the need for the sector to adopt a straightforward manifesto that can be presented to the public, politicians, and decision-makers, the association
also advocated for a revitalisation of the 'Save Our Pharmacies' campaign, injecting it with renewed energy and a stronger sense of purpose.
AIMp pointed out that a lack of cohesion is one of the factors contributing to the sector's struggle in gaining attention. "The current trajectory of community
pharmacy is unsustainable," said Dr. Leyla Hannbeck, Chief Executive of AIMp. "To tackle the significant challenges ahead, we must work together cohesively. The
most effective approach is to actively engage with Parliament, leveraging politicians from across the political spectrum to advocate for our cause."
Meanwhile, the association urged various pharmacy bodies to unite in support of the Pharmacy All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to enhance its effectiveness
and broaden its influence, rather than working independently.
Health secretary Sajid Javid visited Medicine Chest Pharmacy in London on Friday (January 28) and thanked pharmacy teams across England for delivering well over 20 million Covid-19 jabs.
According to the latest research conducted by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and PharmData, independent community pharmacies were the biggest deliverers of Covid-19 vaccines during January 2021 to September 2021 as compared to corporate-run pharmacy sites.
As of January 2022, pharmacies across the whole sector had delivered 22 million Covid jabs, with the majority of them being independents of whom most are NPA members.
In a video message released after the visit, Javid said: "Today I am here at Medicine Chest pharmacy in London to thank them, all pharmacies, the NHS, for the fantastic job they have done particularly over the last few months to get our country boosted. It's because of this phenomenal success that today we are able to return to Plan A as we see Omicron in retreat and we learn to live with Covid."
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and National Pharmacy Association (NPA) have both urged the new health secretary Steve Barclay to back the 'pharmacy first'
approach in England as mentioned by his predecessor on numerous occasions.
"Sajid Javid recognised the vital role of community pharmacy and the potential of a 'Pharmacy First' to support patient access to care. I would urge the new Health
Secretary to see this through to completion," said chair of RPS in England Thorrun Govind.
Thorrun hopes the new health secretary will engage with pharmacy leaders about how we can make the most of our health and care workforce to support the NHS recovery,
including reducing health inequalities, managing the growing cost of long-term conditions, and utilising the enhanced skills of Pharmacist Independent Prescribers.
Commenting on the new appointment, she said: "This is a crucial time for the future of health and care - with continued pressures on teams, changes to NHS structures
and organisations, and the need for long-term investment in the workforce.
"With a 'refresh' of the NHS Long-Term Plan and the Government's workforce plan expected later this year, these must support a more ambitious approach to advancing
the clinical role of pharmacists across the NHS to better meet changing patient demand, backed by investment in pharmacy education and training.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) is bolstering its leadership team with the appointment of Jay Badenhorst as the Director of Pharmacy, a newly
created position aimed at fortifying its commitment to advancing pharmacy practice.
This move comes amidst a period of significant change and challenge for frontline pharmacists, prompting the independent trade union to enhance its influence
in the evolving healthcare landscape.
Mr. Badenhorst, who previously served Whitworth Chemists as the Managing Director and also has leveraged his extensive knowledge of the pharmacy practice and
organisational leadership as the Vice Chair of the National Pharmacy Association, reasons his "commitment to being at the forefront of positive change within
the pharmacy profession."
Mr. Badenhorst expressed his enthusiasm stating: "I am delighted to be joining an organisation that has so much vision, ambition and drive at a time when
pharmacists have so many opportunities to develop their roles for the benefit of patients."
According to Mark Koziol, Chair of PDA, the new position is a reflection of the union's commitment to pharmacy and described the new Director of Pharmacy
as "a senior level, proven and award-winning pharmacy leader."
Preet Kaur Gill, Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, has paid a recent visit to a community pharmacy in Staffordshire to personally experience
the services it provides to patients, while staying updated on the latest sector developments.
Her visit to Eason's Pharmacy in Tamworth on September 22nd marked her first since assuming new responsibilities for pharmacy policy matters within Labour's health
team. Gill was also joined by a member of the National Pharmacy Association staff.
The Minister received a comprehensive briefing on Eason's Pharmacy from its third-generation owner, Kieran Eason (R). He outlined the NHS services, which include
the New Medicines Service and blood pressure monitoring, and showcased two consultation rooms and an operational dispensary.
"It's great that Preet came to learn firsthand about the challenges we face and the substantial potential of community pharmacies nationwide," Eason said. "As an
independent prescriber, I have the expertise to provide even more convenient care, but the current funding levels severely limit our contribution."
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey revealed that 93 per cent of respondents experienced 'at least one month' of negative cash flow across their
pharmacy business in 2022.
Nine out of 10 pharmacy owners responding to NPA survey said they made a net loss dispensing medicines for the NHS during 2022, for at least one month of the year.
According to the poll, 48 per cent of them lost money on this core NHS service for six months or more. 45 per cent said their overall outgoings had exceeded overall
income in at least six months of the year.
NPA Chair Andrew Lane said: "This survey shows the bleak financial reality facing many independent pharmacies after years of underfunding. Dispensing at a loss and
negative cashflow is clearly unsustainable."
"This funding crisis must be addressed urgently or pharmacies will fall into a spiral of declining services and ultimately widespread closures, he added. "Tragically,
the story is playing out very much in line with independent research commissioned by the NPA last year, which warned of a nationwide financial emergency in our
sector."
The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) has appointed David Vanns as its non-executive Chairman following the retirement of its long serving
Chair Peter Cattee. Vanns will take up the role from April 2023.
Cattee, one of the co-founders of AIMp took up the role as its Chairman in 2000. He is also a non-CCA representative on the PSNC. Despite retiring as chairman Cattee
will remain on the AIMp board.
Commenting on his retirement Cattee said: "It's been my great good fortune to work with almost all of the owners of pharmacy groups throughout England, Scotland and
Wales over the years and many other talented people throughout the sector. It's been during a period of increasing consolidation, something which our own business
has reflected, and the original founders and Board members Yakub Patel, Kirit Patel, Steve Williams and David Vanns have all been instrumental in shaping pharmacy
negotiations to better reflect the views of our natural constituency - pharmacy group owners.
A spokesperson for AIMp said: "We thank Peter for his services and dedication to AIMp throughout the years. Our organisation has grown to be a diverse and dynamic
organisation representing and supporting pharmacy groups of all sizes, small and large. Our main identity and what unites us in AIMp, irrespective of the size of
the pharmacy group, is being Independents, and we are very proud of our identity. We look forward to continuing our work in representing and supporting our members
in the best way possible."
Community pharmacy bodies have said that the current crippling financial pressures and severe staff shortages will limit the sector from fully supporting the
new health secretary's ambition to improve patient care in England.
Thérèse Coffey announced her plans on Thursday (September 22) which would be looking to reduce the country's reliance on general practice by expanding the range of
services available from community pharmacies and allowing pharmacists more "prescribing powers".
"Pharmacists will be able to manage and supply more medicines, without a prescription from a GP. We will look to go further on enabling pharmacists with more
prescribing powers and making more simple diagnostic tests available in community pharmacy," she said in her foreword to Our Plan for Patients.
However, the National Pharmacy Association has lamented that the plan stops short of promising any fresh funding for community pharmacies to deliver patient care
and develop clinical services.
NPA vice-chair, Nick Kaye, said: "The life is being choked out of independent pharmacy businesses by the continuation of a fundamentally under-resourced contract
in England.
Increased demand and shortages of lateral flow tests are pushing staff at pharmacies to bear the brunt from frustrated customers who are unable to get their free lateral flow tests, Daily Mail reported.
Some Britons claimed that they have been unable to get lateral flow tests at their local pharmacies for up to a fortnight while some pharmacies were forced to put up sign warning stating they have run out of free tests.
Given the patchy supply of test kits, pharmacy bosses warned that staff are facing 'unfair' and 'abusive' behaviour by customers, the newspaper reported.Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP), told the newspaper: "Up until yesterday the supply to pharmacies was still patchy. The past few days the situation has not improved.
"Pharmacies are having to put up with a lot of abuse and aggressive behaviours by members of the public because of this situation which is unfair.
"The demand is still very high now because the governments guidelines put a lot of emphasis on testing as a key out of self isolation, so naturally as Omicron cases are high people are reliant on tests to get on with daily life."
The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) celebrated achievements of its members during the pandemic at its first annual 'ball and award' ceremony held last week in London.
To highlight the important role played by pharmacy teams, the association representing community pharmacy businesses with multiple branches, introduced two award categories - for patient safety and social care.
Stephen Walls from H I Weldricks won the Patient Safety Awards and Sandeep Dhami, Nadia Hussain and Sachin Basandrai from MW Phillips won the Social Care Award.
Congratulating the winners, Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of AIMp, said that community pharmacy teams "have worked tirelessly to deliver patient care throughout the pandemic." David McNicol, head of sales at AAH Pharmaceuticals, noted that the country and community pharmacy witnessed the toughest 18 months, and the gathering provided an opportunity to discuss ongoing challenges.
Community pharmacies will be able to deliver approximately 15 million blood pressure screenings by 2026, revealed the Company Chemists' Association (CCA)'s new
research.
This will also prevent 15,000 people from suffering heart attacks or strokes. CCA has called the Government to take up their offer and commission pharmacies as the
first port of call for cardiovascular care.
"Thousands of lives can be saved with ambitious commissioning and the investment to match," said CCA.
There is an opportunity to use the expertise of community pharmacy to go further and provide the care these newly identified patients' need. To do this the sector
needs funding and workforce.
The association said: "Community pharmacy is under great financial pressure, suffering a real term funding cut of over 30% over 8 years. With funding, the sector can
transform to deliver this critical need for patients.
Whilst there are plans to train Independent Prescribers (IPs), there are no clear roles for them to use these skills. There is a need to accelerate training plans to
allow pharmacists to deliver the service described here and play their part in CVD management."
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has initiated the process for the regional representative election for the North-East and Cumbria
region after Mark Burdon's resignation from the committee earlier this year.
The North-East and Cumbria region covers Community Pharmacy County Durham, Community Pharmacy Cumbria, Gateshead and South Tyneside LPC, North of Tyne LPC,
Sunderland LPC and Tees LPC.
PSNC said that Pharmacists who are independent chemists and members or officers of these LPCs are eligible to stand for election as a new regional representative.
"An independent chemist is defined in the PSNC constitution as a chemist operating retail pharmacy businesses' from no more than nine premises in England from which
NHS Pharmaceutical Services or Local Pharmaceutical Services are provided and a person who is not a member of the Association of Independent Multiple pharmacies
(AIMp)," said PSNC.
The following PSNC briefing sets out the election process and the actions required by those seeking to stand for election.
Patients are highly satisfied with the new Pharmacy First service, which enables pharmacists to assess and treat patients for seven common conditions,
according to a survey by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
Nearly 100 NPA members participated in the snapshot poll conducted at the end of the first full week of the service.
Nine in ten respondents (87 per cent) said that "most or all patients expressed satisfaction" with the service they received.
However, many independent community pharmacy owners are facing challenges in implementing the service.
While 56 per cent of pharmacy owners surveyed expressed feeling "motivated" by the new service, a larger proportion (70 per cent) indicated being "under
additional pressure."
More than 30 per cent of the respondents found implementation of the service "harder" than they had expected.
Two more independent community pharmacists have been appointed to the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership.
NPA board member Reena Barai and Sheelin McKeagney from Lurgan in Northern Ireland will join 25 other commission members, including Ash Soni who was the only
practising community pharmacist on the initial list published in June.
Welcoming the announcement, the National Pharmacy Association chief executive, Mark Lyonette, said: "To their great credit, the co-chairs of the commission and the
UK's chief pharmaceutical officers have listened to our request for more community pharmacy presence on the commission. They have acted swiftly to achieve a better
balance in its membership and we thank them for responding to our representations.
"Around 70 per cent of pharmacists practice in the community. With more voices from community pharmacy within the leadership commission, there is a greater sense
that the profession as a whole will be able to own the final recommendations when they are ultimately made."
A Company Chemists' Association (CCA) analysis has shown that 'Pharmacy First' service in England could free up 30m+ GP appointments each year.
It has urged the Government and NHS to be even 'bolder in their ambition and go further and faster'.
The recent 'Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care' announced a 'Pharmacy First' service for England, mirroring similar approaches in Scotland and
Wales.
The association has estimated that with the added capability to supply non-prescription medicines and prescribe additional prescription-only medicines, an ambitious
'Pharmacy First' service could free up 30m+ GP appointments annually.
Harnessing community pharmacies to deliver care for minor health conditions will effectively create 11,000 urgent care centres in England.
In a bid to bolster professional leadership within the pharmacy sector, the four government Chief Pharmaceutical Officers (CPhOs) have embarked on a
significant initiative, forming the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board (UKPPLAB).
In a recent communication, all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians received confirmation of the board members selected by the CPhOs, alongside a note from the
board's appointed chair, who was chosen collectively by the four CPhOs and reports directly to the CPhO for England.
Over three years, the 21-member Board will implement recommendations from the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership's report aimed to enhance
professional fulfillment among pharmacists while simultaneously augmenting patient safety standards.
This announcement also follows with the appointment of Sir Hugh Taylor as its Independent Chair and the appointment of Independent Expert Members who expressed
his delight over the role's "potential to lead and support collaboration across the professions in the UK".
However, the move has been met with cautious optimism from the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA), urging the new board to uphold transparency and openness
to garner trust among pharmacists.
Speaking at the SIGMA Conference 2023, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), spoke about the increasing
number of prescriptions, lack of funding and other existing challenges.
Leyla explained how the pharmacy sector is facing immense challenges which are disrupting the delivery of services as well as impacting its growth.
She further spoke about the hub and spoke model, and how it is unable to solve the issues.
"Community pharmacies are clogged with prescription volume, and this is preventing them from supporting the wider NHS as well as offering services," she said.
She said that the prescription volumes have rocketed, while the number of pharmacies in England has declined from 11, 522 in the year 2021-22 to 11, 414 in 2022-23.
When it comes to Company Chemists' Association (CCA) pharmacies, there has been a loss of 1055 branches from 2022 to 2023.
The National Pharmacy Association has published a medium-term prospectus for the development of pharmacy services, calling it a challenge to old ways of
thinking and an opportunity to redefine the sector's role in the NHS.
It follows months of dialogue with NPA members about what a clinical future could look like for the sector.
The document - Making Changes Meeting Needs - will be shared with the King's Fund and Nuffield Trust who are currently working on a new vision for the future on
behalf of Community Pharmacy England.
NPA chair, Nick Kaye, said: "Building out from the existing portfolio of services, there are some major opportunities within this decade, encompassing prevention,
medicines optimisation, long term medical conditions and urgent care.
Several medium-sized pharmacy chains and multiples in Scotland are increasing in size by purchasing numerous LloydsPharmacy sites that were closed last month.
The Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) Regional Committees met to dwell on the issues faced by the community pharmacists across the UK. The PDA's Scottish
regional committee highlighted the impact of Lloyds Pharmacy's closure in their third committee meeting of 2023.
It said: "Davidsons who have purchased various businesses in Tayside. Rowlands has purchased 30 branches across central Scotland and the PDA has been in touch
with members affected. These members will be supported to ensure that they are properly subject to a TUPE transfer (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment)
as they should be when a business changes ownership."
Most discussion amongst the Scottish Regional Committee members was around community pharmacy. Reports suggest that negotiations between the Scottish government
and the pharmacy owners' body, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) have broken down. As the independent voice of the frontline employed and locum pharmacists that
deliver the contract, the PDA wants to see an agreement found for the benefit of patients, taxpayers, and health professionals.
Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and
secondary care in England.
The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan
told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and
people were dying."
Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that
pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly".
The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a
report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding.
"We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph.
"It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."