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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 National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is calling on NHS England and its member to pause and reflect before further implementing the pharmacy contraception service. NPA board met on Tuesday (25 April) to discuss the Pharmacy Contraception Service and the board decided that - with the community pharmacy sector at breaking point - it cannot support the immediate roll out of this service. The association believes that with no new funding for the service, and all existing funds in effect already allocated to other pharmacy activity, any payments to the sector for delivery of the oral contraception service will ultimately be clawed back by NHS England. Tweeting after the meeting yesterday, the NPA said: "We can't tell pharmacy owners what they can and can't do. But we can tell them the facts; fact number one is that with no new funding currently available everyone will be a loser from the implementation of this service on the current terms." NPA Vice-Chair Jay Badenhorst added: "We cannot be expected to take on more and more services without the increase in funding necessary to deliver them effectively. Meanwhile, taking on additional work when current workload already exceeds capacity risks impacting negatively on the overall quality of care people experience in pharmacies. We still believe this could, in future, be a great new pharmacy service, but not without the extra funding necessary to deliver it safely and effectively. We want to offer women this extra support, but if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly."

A new report from Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has raised alarms about the severe financial challenges plaguing pharmacies across the sector, threatening their ability to provide even the core services for their patients. The findings are based on responses from over 6,100 pharmacy owners and 2,000 pharmacy staff who participated in the recent Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2024. The report reveals that spiralling costs and increased workloads, coupled with a 30 per cent funding cut in real terms since 2015, are putting countless pharmacies at risk of closure. "Nearly 1 in 6 may close within the next year," the report revealed. A vast majority (94 per cent) of pharmacy owners reported that they have seen significant increases in costs, with almost two-thirds (64 per cent) saying they are operating at a loss. Concerningly, these financial pressures are now affecting patient care, as 18 per cent of pharmacy staff reported severe impacts. The survey revealed that most pharmacies are experiencing longer prescription dispensing times (86 per cent), delays in responding to patient inquiries (80 per cent), and less time to spend with patients (79 per cent).

As part of a new blueprint for primary care, the government today (May 9) announced an investment of £645 million over two years to expand community pharmacy services in England. In a statement, NHS England said: "For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections." Prime minister Rishi Sunak hopes that the measures will help end the "all-too stressful wait on the end of the phone for patients" by freeing up 15 million slots at doctors' surgeries over the next two years. "We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly and easily," he said Almost half a million women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP to access oral contraception and will instead be able to pop into their local pharmacy for it, according to the government announcement. Blood checks for people suffering from moderate risk of heart attack or stroke conducted in community pharmacies will more than double from 900,000 last year to 2.5 million next year. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the "ambitious package" would help transform how care is provided within the health service "with pharmacies playing a central role in managing the nation's health including providing lifesaving checks and medication for common conditions for the first time.

harac, an NHS-integrated one-stop platform for independent community pharmacies, and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) have announced their long-term partnership to allow pharmacies to deliver the broad range of services needed to support the public. The NPA and Charac will collaborate with members of the NPA and beyond to accelerate the necessary digital transition of independent community pharmacies, particularly given their importance to poorer communities and less advantaged individuals at high risk due to potential pharmacy closures. The partnership is part of the NPA's efforts to improve the online presence of community pharmacies, including patient application, online booking, website design, and a delivery service. With Charac similarly dedicated to bettering digital interaction with patients, the new joint ecosystem will provide pharmacies with the necessary funding and cutting-edge technology to aid delivery of primary care.

The health secretary, Steve Barclay was asked over the delay of 'Pharmacy First' model in England that was proposed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) last year, at the Health Committee evidence session held on Tuesday (31 January). Taiwo Owatemi MP (Chair of the Pharmacy APPG) asked whether he was adhering to his statutory responsibility to ensure continued access to medicines and cited the CCA's closures in areas of deprivation research. Barclay replied that the government is 'investing more'. He said, "We put an extra 100 million on top of the 2.6 billion a year we commit to community pharmacy to expand the range of clinical services. We've got over 2 million patients that have been referred to community pharmacy from NHS." He further added: "One of the issues I'm very keen on is to explore what more we can do in pharmacy not least given the pressures on GP and the opportunity to look at what it is currently people go to GPS for where potentially the risk to do more at the pharmacy and we're already doing that."

Our Totton branch has an incredibly high volume of original pack dispensing, roughly 45,000 items. As we became busier and busier in the dispensary we were finding that our pharmacists, dispensers and other technicians simply didn't have capacity to deliver the services that we needed them to. We all know there is a real emphasis right now on pharmacies doing more services and we knew we had to change the way we operate to survive. So we decided it was time to look into a sound automation solution for our medication dispensing process, one that would allow us to free up the time of the pharmacists and the rest of the team so they could better support patients. After a lot of research we invested in Centred Solutions FLOWRx Hub and InStore solutions which were installed late last year. It provides us with the whole package and has automated our entire dispensing process from picking to packing and labeling to checking. Our situation was quite unique as we bought the system initially for our existing high-volume pharmacy in Totton so the hub and the spoke are actually on the same site. People wouldn't usually look at a hub and spoke solution for that kind of set up but it has allowed us to significantly free up time in store for more services. What it has also done is allow us to look at other opportunities to grow and expand. The pharmacy landscape is changing and there are lots of opportunities coming up. We have found that having your technology and the right infrastructure in place to support your existing footprint before you expand is the ideal way to grow in a safe and controlled way. We never thought that five years ago we would buy another pharmacy, yet we have already bought one and are now in the process of buying two more. I'm not worried about the increase in volume this expansion will bring because I know our technology is going to be able to support it. The pharmacies we are buying are struggling but having our solution already in place m

The trade bodies and four largest pharmacy chains in England, have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, warning that the sector needs urgent investment for sustainability. The letter from AIMp, CCA, NPA, PSNC, Boots UK, Lloyds Pharmacy, Well, and Phoenix UK, warned that the 30 per cent real terms funding cuts that pharmacies have faced over the past seven years have left many businesses in a cashflow crisis. The letter said that the government is facing a choice over the future of the country's 11,000+ community pharmacies, with permanent closures likely and medicines supply at risk if no urgent action is taken. "If the funding situation is not addressed, the sector is likely to move rapidly towards many permanent closures of pharmacies." The organisations say that once these closures start, they will be hard to stop, as the sector is now so fragile other pharmacies would struggle to pick up the slack.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) highlighted the role played by community pharmacies during pandemic to provide urgent care and vital support to people with long-term medical conditions at its opening remark in the Covid-19 public inquiry held on Tuesday (28 February). NPA is the core participant in the Covid-19 public inquiry. lawyer Brian Stanton made an opening statement on the NPA's behalf which focused on three areas- health inequalities and the needs of vulnerable patients; the impact of medicine shortages and medicine price increases and the challenge that community pharmacy faced in responding to the pandemic and maintaining patient services following long-term under investment. Stanton said: "The UK's community pharmacies were on the frontline of efforts to limit the impact of coronavirus and to keep people well, and as well as handling a massive increase in demand for healthcare advice and medicines, they also continued to provide urgent care and vital support to people with long-term medical conditions. "However, there are now very many at risk of closure during to underfunding and when the Inquiry comes to consider its recommendations the NPA would encourage you [the presiding judge] to think about how resilience can be built into future plans." The statement included a compelling account of the commitment typical of so many pharmacies during the pandemic - from husband and wife Pete and Sukhi Johal, both NPA members and pharmacists, who co-own Calow Pharmacy in Chesterfield.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its guidance for online pharmacies, aimed at enhancing patient safety. These changes are designed to tackle concerns associated with receiving medicines from online pharmacies, particularly those that may not be clinically appropriate and could potentially harm patients. GPhC has identified concerns relating to inappropriate supplies of weight loss medications that could pose risk to patients' health. Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the GPhC, underscored the importance of addressing risks in online pharmacy services. "We know that there can be significant benefits for people using online pharmacy services to get medicines and treatment, but there are also additional risks that need to be managed, to make sure medicines and other pharmacy services are provided safely to patients and the public.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has unveiled its Carbon Net Zero Action Plan for sustainable pharmacy regulation, aiming to achieve carbon net zero by 2040. The action plan focuses on three main elements: setting an example, incorporating sustainability into regulatory standards, and fostering collaboration for sustainable pharmacy care. Roz Gittins, Chief Pharmacy Officer at the GPhC, emphasised the urgent need for pharmacy sector to embrace sustainable healthcare practices. "Climate change is a global emergency and has been declared the biggest threat to public health," she said, adding that it not only poses health risks but also amplifies existing health inequalities, with immediate consequences for patients, the public and health services. She highlighted that the GPhC is actively engaged in addressing climate change, both as an employer and regulator. "Our aim is to positively influence the pharmacy sector to embrace climate action and sustainable healthcare principles in line with our vision to have safe and effective pharmacy care at the heart of healthier communities," Gittins said.

Blackwells Chemist, a community pharmacy in South East London did not meet all the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards. The pharmacy was inspected on Thursday (01 June) and it was found it did not keep all its records up to date and accurate, particularly its responsible pharmacist records. Investigation report stated that the principle of Governance and principle of Services, including medicines management was 'not met at all'. Under the principle Governance, the report stated: "The pharmacy generally manages the risks associated with its services adequately. People using the pharmacy can provide feedback or raise concerns. And staff generally protect people's personal information well. Team members know what to do to help protect the welfare of a vulnerable person. The pharmacy has written procedures, but these are not easily accessible to team members to refer to. And they are not regularly updated. So, they may be less useful to staff, and may not reflect current best practice." In the inspection it was found that the pharmacy does not always store its medicines properly. It cannot show that it stores all its medicines requiring cold storage at the appropriate temperatures.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has lashed out at the British Medical Association (BMA) after GP leaders voted in favour of the motion to terminate pharmacy blood pressure checks with immediate effect and redirect the funds into pharmacy dispensing fees. Commenting on the BMA's vote, NPA chair Nick Kaye said: "It benefits no-one, least of all patients, for one set of health care professionals to talk down the services provided by another." He emphasised the importance of investment and collaboration across the healthcare system, particularly between general practice and community pharmacies, to provide the best possible care for patients. Furthermore, Kaye stressed the value of pharmacy-based NHS clinical services in improving access to care, while also providing more convenient care for patients and relieving pressure on other parts of primary care. "It would be terribly shortsighted to row back on preventative services such as hypertension case finding, which will be cost-saving as well as lifesaving in the long term," he warned. He noted that the NHS will only meet the growing needs and expectations of the ageing population by making the most of capacity and skills across the whole system.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced that free COVID-19 lateral flow tests will be supplied through community pharmacies for at-risk groups. The service will operate from 6 November for patients aged over 12 years who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms. Community pharmacies that have participated in this new initiative will be paid £4 plus VAT for each box of five lateral flow device test kits provided. Alastair Buxton, Director of NHS services at Community Pharmacy England said: "This is not going to be a high-volume service, but community pharmacy teams are well placed to provide LFD test kits to eligible patients with them having made over 25.5 million supplies of COVID-19 LFD test kits in 2021/22.

David Webb, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, acknowledged that the "pressure in the system is high", but urged everyone to "keep our eye on the design" of the NHS plan, adding that the "the objective is to bring the different parts of primary care together" in the patient interest. Speaking during the opening keynote session at the the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) conference held on Thursday (13 October), he added that the NHS plan intends to bring different parts of primary care together to help patients. He said the new integrated care boards (ICBs) are a key strategic framework as they provide the "potential to form partnerships to deliver integrated services across larger populations". "ICBs will want to work with Local Pharmaceutical Committees to plan for the local population and the new community pharmacy clinical leads in ICBs, who have been funded by NHS England, are there to advise." He explained that once an ICB takes over the commissioning of pharmaceutical services (which they are all due to do by April 2023), it could use its funds to commission a local enhanced service as an add on to an advanced service. For instance, a CVD risk assessment could be added to the blood pressure check service.

Centred Solutions has been at the forefront of the pharmacy hub and spoke dispensing in England over the last few years. We have already demonstrated that hub and spoke dispensing is a realistic model of dispensing for pharmacy groups of all sizes. We've seen the massive difference that hub and spoke can make to community pharmacy. With pharmacies struggling to survive, the time has come to stop delaying and to now push ahead with model one of hub and spoke dispensing. In our experience, there is no risk with moving ahead with model one of hub and spoke legislation which would allow medicines to be returned from the hub to the pharmacy ready to be dispensed to the patient. We do however understand the need for more policy discussion around the second model of hub and spoke, where the hub sends the medication directly to the patient. This should not delay the implementation of model one. This model would immediately level the playing field for smaller and independent pharmacies, allowing them to use a hub and spoke model of their choice now to create capacity for clinical services. We feel strongly about this issue and that's why we are working alongside HubRx and PillTime to raise awareness.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Wales has welcomed proposals from the Welsh government to increase access to PrEP via community pharmacies for people at risk of HIV. The new HIV Action Plan for Wales consultation proposes a shared care model between primary care and specialist sexual health services to improve access to PrEP. Commenting on the proposal, chair of RPS in Wales Cheryl Way said: "Increasing access to the medicines has been a long-standing issue of concern for us at RPS and we're therefore delighted to see the proposals outlined by the Welsh government to develop a model which will enable PrEP to be provided by community pharmacies across Wales. "PrEP are highly effective medicines, that reduce the chances of getting HIV, as proven by the Welsh Government's three year PrEPARED study which found no new diagnoses of HIV among over 1,200 people taking PrEP in Wales. This is clear evidence that PrEP should be made as easily accessible as possible to those who need it.

The Company Chemist Association (CCA) highlighted its concerns around the recruitment of pharmacists into Primary Care Networks as well as the need for additional investment. Commenting on the Ipsos survey findings, the Malcolm Harrison, the Chief executive of the CCA said: "We welcome the findings of the Ipsos survey, confirming that patients value the quality of service and advice community pharmacies routinely provide. "We are very concerned however that this cancer detection pilot, and all other pharmacy services, are at risk if the NHS is not prepared to inject urgently needed funding into the sector." He stated that without substantial investment, "we will see the continued erosion of the service pharmacies can provide." In addition to the need for critical additional funding the association is also calling on the NHS to pause the recruitment of pharmacists into GP surgeries. He said: "Patients are suffering because the demand for pharmacists in England is now significantly greater than that which the existing workforce can deliver."

As Know Your Numbers! Week (2-8 September) kicks off, the NHS England is encouraging people in the East Midlands to get their blood pressure checked to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The residents can get their blood pressure checked at several places, including their local pharmacies. The initiative, part of a global campaign, highlights the crucial role of monitoring blood pressure, especially for those aged 40 and over. It is recommended that all adults aged 40 or over have their blood pressure tested at least every five years. High blood pressure or hypertension affects about a third of adults in the UK and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is one of the leading causes of death in England. This condition often has no noticeable symptoms, but if untreated, it can result in serious health problems such as heart attacks and strokes. Local pharmacies play a crucial role in this health campaign, enabling individuals to monitor their risk of cardiovascular disease without needing an appointment. The NHS community pharmacy blood pressure check service has delivered more than a million checks nationally in the past year.

The National Health Service (NHS) on Monday launched a new national campaign to find the 'missing millions' who could be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, often described as a 'silent killer'. People are being warned that the condition rarely has any symptoms and it can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia, if left untreated. According to the NHS, high blood pressure affects an estimated 32 per cent of adults and approximately three in 10 of these remain undiagnosed, equating to 4.2 million people in England. The NHS has expanded blood pressure checks in community pharmacies to include 2.5 million more tests as part of the Pharmacy First programme. With the 'Get Your Blood Pressure Checked' campaign, the health service is encouraging those aged 40 years and over to get a free blood pressure test at a participating pharmacy, for which they don't need to be booked in advance. Health Minister Andrea Leadsom expressed confidence that this new drive will help to prevent the potentially "fatal consequences" of untreated high blood pressure. She urged people to go to their local pharmacy to get their blood pressure checked, stating that it could be a "lifesaving trip."