Group items tagged

Representatives from the national community pharmacy bodies will brief the MPs on the severe challenges facing community pharmacies on Tuesday (21 March) at a roundtable summit. The roundtable summit will include discussions on the urgent action needed to address the current severe challenges being faced by community pharmacy, as well as the sector's role in the upcoming Primary Care Recovery Plan, said PSNC. The Parliamentary event this week has been coordinated by PSNC as part of the joint #SaveOurPharmacies campaign which exceeded 30,000 signatories in a week. The Association of Independent Pharmacies (AIM), the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and PSNC will take part at the event. A spokesperson for the #SaveOurPharmacies campaign group said: "30,000 signatures in a week indicates a high level of underlying public support for community pharmacy and it's a good start to the #SaveOurPharmacies campaign. A petition by itself won't change the world, but it works as a kind of drumbeat for the campaign, giving forward momentum, and it's a really easy way to express your opinion. We hope the new window poster - along with all the resources available at saveourpharmacies.co.uk - will help as many pharmacies as possible to drum up support from their patients, and we're really grateful to Communications International Group for helping us to print and distribute this.

In a powerful display of unity, thousands of pharmacies across the UK participated in a nationwide protest today, organised by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), as part of its #saveourpharmacies campaign. The NPA's day of action was aimed at drawing attention to the severe crisis in pharmacy funding that has forced 1,400 pharmacies to close over the past decade and left thousands more struggling. Participating pharmacies showed their protest through various actions like dimming lights, blacking out their windows, wearing black for the day, or discussing pharmacy funding with customers. Many pharmacies also seized the opportunity to interact with parliamentary candidate, urging them to address the funding crisis.

"I dread the day, the accountant turns to me and says 'this isn't working' - as an owner, we shelter our patients and teams from the financial pressures we feel on a daily basis," shares S.G Barai Pharmacy owner, Reena Barai. Today, S.G Barai Pharmacy in Sutton, Surrey joined pharmacies nationwide in the #SaveOurPharmacies day of action, organised by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) to spotlight the critical funding crisis facing community pharmacies across the UK. Recent figures reveal that over the past decade, more than 1,400 pharmacies have closed in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with additional closures looming in Scotland due to financial pressures. The NPA reports that three-quarters of pharmacies are operating at a loss, exacerbated by real-terms cuts to funding. "We turned our lights off and wore black today to symbolize the precarious situation pharmacies like ours are facing," said Reena Barai who owns the pharmacy.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is distributing new campaign materials to pharmacies across England this week to empower them to advocate for fair funding in the forthcoming general election. These include campaign posters, stickers, postcards for patients to send to MPs and petition materials. By supplying these resources, the NPA aims to boost its cross-sector #SaveOurPharmacies campaign and help pharmacies raise local and national awareness of the funding crisis that is forcing pharmacies to close at the rate of 10 a week. NPA chief executive Paul Rees said: "Pharmacies are under crushing financial pressure. We want to help them join our efforts to raise the profile of the funding crisis and make the public and politicians fully aware of the threat to our much-loved pharmacy network.

The 'SaveOurPharmacies' roundtable held on Tuesday (21 March) to discuss severe challenges faced by the community pharmacies in England witnessed the support of 15 MPs. Janet Morrison, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC); Andrew Lane, independent pharmacy owner and Chairman, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Ian Strachan, independent pharmacy owner and Board Member, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIM) attended the summit, which was chaired by Stephen Hammond MP, to brief MPs on the severe challenges facing the sector. MPs in attendance were Stephen Hammond, Sally-Ann Hart, Peter Aldous, Anna Firth, Taiwo Owatemi, Bob Seely, Derek Thomas, David Rutley, Lilian Greenwood, Tulip Siddiq, Hillary Benn, Sarah Olney, Christian Wakeford, Daisy Cooper (researcher) and Victoria Atkins (researcher) The title of the event 'Community pharmacy's role in the Primary Care Recovery Plan' which is expected imminently, is set to include a variety of measures aimed at helping primary care to recover from the impact of the pandemic. PSNC has been pressing for the plan to include a fully-funded national Pharmacy First service as this is the best chance for getting significant additional funds into community pharmacies.

There is a state of "emergency" across the community pharmacy sector, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned. The organisation is holding a day of protest action, called 'One Day to #SaveOurPharmacies', on 20 June to draw attention to the sector's growing crisis. During the protest, pharmacy teams across the UK are expected to take a range of symbolic actions - such as turning the lights out for a period, asking their staff to wear black, blacking out windows, using the day to engage with patients, inviting parliamentary candidates and using #saveourpharmacies on social media - signifying dark times for the beleaguered community pharmacy sector, the NPA said. The organisation decided to choose 20 June for the protest as it marks the day from which the average pharmacy across the four nations will be "lossmaking overall."

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2023 to make case against the 'unprecedented financial and operational challenges' faced by the community pharmacies in England. The Committee has urged those working in or owns a community pharmacy to 'take part' in the survey. "The survey results will be critical to help us to show Government and the NHS how difficult things now are for pharmacies, and to persuade them to take action. We will be using the results in our negotiations, in our conversations with MPs, Ministers and in national media work as part of the joint #saveourpharmacies campaign," said PSNC. The Pharmacy Pressures Survey is once again comprised of two surveys to give insight into both financial and operational pressures. Together with the other national pharmacy organisations PSNC are working both to show policy makers the severity of the problems and to lobby for Government and NHS action to ease the pressures.