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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called pharmacy employers and pharmacy trade unions to come together to a round table meeting to agree on principles for a way forward that ensures patients benefit consistently from access to high quality, adequately staffed, safe pharmacy services. It has also urged the governments, NHS organisations and individual pharmacy teams to define clear prioritisation plans, which can be embedded in organisational business continuity plans which set out the pharmacy services that are essential and must always be provided and can be de-prioritised at specific levels of pressures. The challenges for pharmacies are compounded by the escalating cost of living crisis. With unprecedented levels of burnout among pharmacists, pharmacy closures and the potential for strike action, RPS has called for three things- 'professionalism, respect and prioritisation.'

The implementation of the 2017 standards for the initial education and training of pharmacy technicians (IETPT) has improved the performance and preparedness for practice among recently registered pharmacy technicians and the wider workforce, according to a new study. Results of the 2023 research study commissioned by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) showed that 72 per cent of pharmacy technicians felt "well prepared" for practice after training. More number of pharmacy technicians in the community pharmacy expressed readiness for practice (82 per cent) than their peers in the hospital pharmacy (64 peer cent). Led by the Centre for Pharmacy Workforce Studies (CPWS) at the University of Manchester and the consultancy service, ICF, the study involved 142 recently registered pharmacy technicians and 21 employers and supervisors of trainees. Overall, 96 per cent of the surveyed respondents believed that the course effectively covered person-centred care, professionalism and professional knowledge and skills.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has reacted to the chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) for Wales's offer for community pharmacy contractors, offering a funding uplift for community pharmacy on the condition of an increase in pay for some staff by at least the amount currently being imposed upon NHS employees. The PDA has expressed a mixed reaction to the intervention being attempted by the Welsh government. "It is unusual for a government to be so closely involved in the pay of their suppliers' employees and those at some community pharmacy employers have a contractual right to a pay review at times of year that may not synchronize with the government's financial cycle, so this initiative may have different impacts at different employers," said the association. "In addition, the PDA negotiates pay at the largest two community pharmacy employers and works alongside other trade unions that organise other pharmacy workers. This government intervention must not disrupt or attempt to bypass those processes."

Pharmacy leaders have called for reassurance that the workforce plan, expected by April 2023, will cover the entirety of the pharmacy workforce across the health service, including in community pharmacies. A joint letter has been signed by representatives from 14 pharmacy organisations which highlights that with continued pressures on services, it is more important than ever to support the pharmacy workforce so that the staff needed to deliver patient care now and into the future can be recruited, trained and retained. Mark Koziol, Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) Chairman said: "Our pharmacist members practise across the entire health system and have the potential to do far more to help patients and improve public health, but they can only do so safely if they are in appropriately staffed workplaces. This is a workforce issue, so it is important that the Government works with representatives of the pharmacist workforce, and of their employers, to get a suitably agreed plan in place." Thorrun Govind, English Pharmacy Board Chair, Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), said: "It will be crucial to use the skills of all our health professions to support the NHS recovery, reduce health inequalities, manage the growing cost of long-term conditions, and deliver best value from medicines.

"Discussions must involve the government on behalf of NHS Scotland, CPS on behalf of the owners, and the PDA as the pharmacists' representative," it said. The association believes that there is a need for discussion and decision-making that listens to and balances the rights and responsibilities of both employers and workers, to generate benefits for individuals, organisations, and society. It added: "Even though Scotland provides the most generous community pharmacy settlement in the UK, recent reports suggest it is not enough for pharmacy owners with CPS's rejection of the latest funding proposal in May. Though the Scottish government found an extra £20M to ease pressures related to medicines price increases, an overall agreement has still not been reached." "The UK-wide chains may be doing less well in the parts of their networks covered by the Westminster government's contract, but the taxpayers and government of Scotland need to be given reassurance that they are in no way subsidising funding shortfalls in England's pharmacy contract." Recently, when LloydsPharmacy's Scotland branches recently came on the market, they appear to have been sold exclusively to existing contractors, including the UK-wide multiple, Rowlands Pharmacy, who have acquired 30 of them. Other small and medium-sized Scottish pharmacy chains have apparently been able to double in size overnight by acquiring branches.

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 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.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has begun conciliation with 86 pharmacy companies to safeguard the interests of former LloydsPharmacy pharmacists. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), a government agency, serves as a mediator between companies and employees to resolve disputes. If the ongoing mediation prove unsuccessful, individual employees retain the option to file claims in the employment tribunal, the PDA has said. The ongoing dispute centres around employers potentially failing to conduct the required consultation under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) with employees and their representatives during employee transfers, the PDA said. The TUPE legislation, known for its complexity and technical nature, applies when a section of the company, like a pharmacy sold as an asset using standard disposal, undergoes a transfer. According to NHS England's recent pharmaceutical list, LloydsPharmacy has either sold or shuttered 461 branches since September 2022. According to NHSE data, as of June 30, the pharmacy chain operates approximately 512 pharmacies in England. This positions it as the third-largest chain after Boots UK and Well Pharmacy.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and Pharmacist Support hosted a roundtable on the impact of pharmacy workforce wellbeing on patient safety on Wednesday (17 May). It also released its annual Workforce Wellbeing Survey which showed continued pressures on pharmacy teams. The discussion explored the actions needed to support staff so they can continue providing safe and effective patient care and included representatives from the NHS, professional bodies, employers, trade unions, education and regulators. A report of the roundtable will be published in the summer. Amandeep Doll, RPS Head of Professional Belonging, said: "We know that pharmacy teams go above and beyond for their patients, but are also under enormous pressure. "Now more than ever, we need to strive to make the pharmacy profession more inclusive and ensure that everyone's wellbeing is supported. "It is vital that we do all we can to encourage people into pharmacy and to support them so they can enhance their skills, develop their careers, and continue to deliver high-quality patient care. "This discussion was a welcome step and showed that making a difference for staff wellbeing requires a concerted effort from stakeholders across the whole of pharmacy.

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.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned of potential pharmacy closures in the coming months if long-standing funding cuts are not addressed and pharmacies are not supported with the National Insurance rise. With Downing Street suggesting that GP surgeries may receive extra support to offset the increase in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) later this year, NPA chief executive Paul Rees has called on the government to extend similar support to pharmacies. A No 10 spokeswoman clarified that contracted workers, including GPs, were not eligible for an exemption from the NICs hike, which she said was consistent with the approach of previous governments. "There is a general process whereby departments, the Department of Health, for example, confirm their funding for general practices," the spokeswoman said, noting this process would occur later in the year. In response, Paul said that it would be "an insult" if GPs were provided support for the National Insurance rise but not hard-working pharmacies, who have faced nearly a decade of cuts in funding and are shutting at record rates.

The 2025/26 pharmacy contract consultation will include a review of the medicine margin and reimbursement arrangements, health and care minister Stephen Kinnock has confirmed. Kinnock made this statement in response to a written question from Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, who asked the secretary of state for health and social care, if he will review the reimbursement system for pharmacies and GP practices dispensing medicines. Kinnock stated that consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) for the 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) has started and will include "reviewing the allowance for medicine margin as part of funding, and any further changes to the reimbursement arrangements." However, he clarified that there are currently no plans to review the reimbursement system for general practices (GPs) dispensing medicines. Kinnock said: "Dispensing practices receive a dispensing fee, approximately £2.00 to £2.30 per item, which is intended to cover dispensing costs. "This fee is calculated based on forecasted volumes of prescriptions to be dispensed and the size of the funding envelope, according to a methodology agreed by the Department, the General Practitioners Committee (GPC), NHS Employers, and the Welsh Government."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) have jointly released a report addressing the challenges faced by community pharmacy when accessing designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs). This report is the outcome of a multiprofessional roundtable event held in June, which brought together representatives from employers, unions, regulators, and NHS England. The report proposes solutions and collaborative actions to build on the current work to support pharmacists and trainees in securing access to a DPP, enabling more of the pharmacy workforce to become prescribers. James Davies, RPS Director for England, said: "The report published today demonstrates the importance of working collaboratively across employers, education training providers and the NHS to ensure that we can create the prescribers that our patients need for the future. "While there is significant work to continue to do by all parties, this helps us come closer to addressing some of the current DPP challenges for community pharmacy."

Pharmacists delivering to the Scottish prison service have been notified by their employer LloydsPharmacy that they may be transferred to another employer or even be at risk of redundancy. The Pharmacists Defence Association said: "It is supporting pharmacists employed by LloydsPharmacy who have been advised that the company has not retendered for the contract to provide pharmacy services to the Scottish prison service. As a result of LloydsPharmacy exiting the contract, those pharmacists may transfer to whichever employer takes over the service, or if their function does not transfer to a new employer they will be at risk of redundancy." The PDA Union will be representing these individuals to ensure they understand and can exercise their rights at work to either continue their current role under a new employer, transfer to a suitable alternative role, or leave with the appropriate redundancy compensation. PDA members impacted by this change can contact the PDA Service Centre for advice.

The Department of Health (DoH) has launched a new programme to provide pharmacy undergraduate students in Northern Ireland with clinical placements across hospital, community and general practice settings. It has commissioned the Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning and Development (NICPLD) at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) to deliver the new Experiential Learning (EL) programme. NICPLD will work with QUB, Ulster University (UU) and local employers to co-ordinate the work placements, the department said. Students across years 2- 4 of the Masters of Pharmacy course will be given up to 12 weeks of Experiential Learning with multisector placements in hospital (6 weeks), community pharmacy (3 weeks) and general practice (3 weeks).

The Health Education England (HEE) has secured funding to further support growth of the pharmacy technician workforce in 2022/23. This support is through expansion of pre-registration trainee pharmacy technician (PTPT) training capacity in community pharmacy or as part of a cross-sector integrated apprenticeship programme. HEE will be holding two 90-minute webinars on Monday 27 2022. There will be a morning webinar (10-11.30am) and an evening webinar (7-8.30pm) for attendees to choose from. Topics like- available funding; eligibility for funding; PTPT training programme requirements for employers; how to apply for this funding; and the support available from HEE for successful funding of applicants to develop their PTPT training programmes, will be covered during the webinars. HEE is also hosting another webinar to provide an update on the Independent Prescribing (IP) for pharmacists training offer that they are developing for Autumn 2022.

The Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) has welcomed the government's action of publishing 'AI Regulation White Paper' which will regulate the artificial intelligence (AI) system used in pharmacy on Wednesday (29 March). The Association had raised concerns about the risk of patient harm due to inappropriate use of so-called AI to include that seen in some of the pharmacy systems undertaking clinical checks. For some time, it has been receiving concerns from practicing pharmacists describing examples of the potentially detrimental impact of automation and online pharmacy provision on patient safety and pharmacy practice. As a result, it raised these concerns with regulators, Chief Pharmaceutical Officers, and parliamentarians in all four nations of the UK to urge action. It said: "This is required not only to protect patients, but also the frontline pharmacists who could be blamed for potential harm caused by inappropriate use of so called 'AI' systems implemented by their employer." The PDA therefore, welcomes the announcement from the UK government that they intend to strengthen regulation of such technology, empowering existing regulators to come up with tailored, context-specific approaches that suit the way AI is actually being used in their sectors; this will include pharmacy.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has expressed disappointment at the omission, once again, of the promised Employment Rights Bill omitted from the Queen's Speech earlier this week. The Bill is pledged to strengthen day one employment rights and increase the productivity of businesses. It set out plans which would protect and enhance workers' rights and aim to make the UK the best place in the world to work at. This included plans to introduce the right to request flexible working for around 2.2 million people in Great Britain - regardless of time served in a bid to modernise the way employees work. The PDA said: "The Employment Rights Bill would have presented an opportunity to improve the ability for workers to obtain redress in the event of poor treatment or discrimination through the development of a single labour market enforcement body. "Poor employment practices, such as insecure work through long-term zero-hours contracts, unilaterally changing workers' terms and conditions by terminating their contracts and re-hiring them on new terms and conditions (also known as fire and rehire), and the sacking of workers without notice, as recently demonstrated by P & O Ferries, could have been outlawed under new legislation."

The Pharmacists' Defence Association has asked Boots UK to waive any restrictive clause that prevents pharmacists working with the multiple from working for other pharmacy employers, even after leaving the company. However, the firm is yet to respond to the formal request, PDA said in an update. This request follows demand from the association members shortly after the company announced it's plans to cut opening hours. On workforce shortages, the PDA stated if there was a genuine shortage, then preventing pharmacists from working for other pharmacy employers to make up for the lost hours would be counterproductive and it would further exacerbate any "shortage".

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has called on pharmacy employers and pharmacists organisations to make donations towards the Pharmacist Support charity in the new year. The association has urged them to donate £1 per pharmacist employee or member to the charity group to increase its funding from 2022 onwards. Pharmacist Support, an independent charity, provides a variety of support services to pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists and pharmacy students in Great Britain. It provides support through twelve sessions of fully funded counselling topharmacists, students, or trainees. Since 2018, the association has donated more than £150,000 to the charity, in turn supporting its members who additionally seek assistance from Pharmacist Support.