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A harsh funding regime that hasn't adapted to changing macroeconomic realities means the viability of large parts of the pharmacy sector is at risk unless the model changes. Very simply, across the sector, revenue has remained largely fixed while costs have increased significantly, making it impossible for many pharmacies to sustain their business models. The sector has seen the closure of more than 1,500 community pharmacies since 2015, with 700 of these closures occurring since 2021. Larger pharmacy operators such as Lloyds, Boots, and Rowlands have seen the biggest decline in numbers, with smaller businesses operating between one and five pharmacies now accounting for almost 50% of the sector. Despite rising inflation and business costs, the NHS pharmacy funding model has remained fixed. Over the period of the current Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) - 2019-2024 - pharmacies have experienced a 30% real terms cut in core funding leading to an annual shortfall of over £750 million, equivalent to £67,000 per pharmacy in England. The current CPCF is due to end in 2024, and there is still no arrangement in place for future funding, leading to delayed and inefficient spending decisions and hampering the ability of the sector to plan and attract much-needed investment.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is inviting community pharmacy owners to share their insights and views about increasing Pharmacy First thresholds and the effects of GP collective action on their pharmacies. This feedback will be discussed at the upcoming Community Pharmacy England Committee meeting in September. During the meeting, the Committee members will also discuss urgent matters including the 2024/25 negotiations, collaboration with the new government, and their ongoing strategies. A key point of discussion will also be the effects of GP work-to-rule action on community pharmacies. CPE has raised concerns that many pharmacies might face challenges meeting the scheduled increases in the monthly Pharmacy First payment threshold, noting that pharmacy owners are already considering their options if they start failing to meet the threshold. In response to concerns from Community Pharmacy England, Ministers have recently agreed to lower the August threshold from 20 to 15.

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).

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."

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has asked community pharmacy owners to share their views on preparations for the new national Pharmacy First service, ahead of the next full Committee meeting at the end of January. The advanced service, which is set for launch from 31 January, will allow patients to seek advice and treatment for seven common conditions directly from their local pharmacy, without the need to contact their GP practice. It is expected to help NHS free up 10m GP appointments a year. However, CPE chief executive Janet Morrison has previously expressed that the Pharmacy First investment is not the panacea for pharmacy's funding woes. Pharmacy owners' feedback will be used in the Committee's campaigning and influencing work to press for an uplift to core funding, CPE said.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has commissioned Professor David Taylor of University College London to investigate the implications of all-time high inflation rates on community pharmacies in the UK. Professor Taylor's will assess rates of inflation affecting community pharmacy across the UK, using public data sources whilst examining inflated costs in the context of the current five year contractual framework in England (2019-2024). He would review the EY (Ernst & Young) report into pharmacy funding, to identify whether current inflationary pressures could change any of the findings and consider the policy implications and impacts of inflationary pressures, including pharmacy's ability to prepare for a more clinically focused future and maintain current core services. NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said: "Inflationary pressures are eating into the limited funds provided by the NHS for pharmacy services. We believe the real level of inflation for pharmacy businesses could be higher than the CPI inflation rate, which itself is at a 40 year high. Staff and locum costs in the sector as well as medicines costs have risen dramatically.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is aiming to reach an agreement with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) on negotiation with regards to expanded services and payment model in the pharmacy sector. Chief Executive Janet Morrison, said: "We are working at pace in negotiations with DHSC and NHSE. The process remains on track with the Government's original timescale - i.e. aiming for agreement in July, with cross-government clearance later in July, and implementation from July through to September." CPE is involved in working groups on service expansion of Hypertension Case-Finding and the Pharmacy Contraception Scheme and service design for the Common Conditions Service; and are in in-depth negotiations on Payment models. These discussions critically look at the balance between funding core capacity and activity payments, how the funding streams will be distributed and how CPE will measure delivery and impact. NHSE has been leading on the development of the PGD pathways for each of the 7 conditions, with external medical, pharmacy and other experts feeding into the process - pharmacy owners from the Community Pharmacy England Committee have also been involved but the discussions are clinically led to ensure they comply with NICE principles and concur with Antimicrobial Stewardship policy.

A group of 20 MPs from the different political parties, including Dame Priti Patel and Judith Cummins, have written a joint letter to health minister Andrea Leadsom, calling for urgent action to address the pressures faced by community pharmacies. Taking note of rising pharmacy closures, they have highlighted the need for more investment and support from the government. Recent NHS figures showed that around 1,400 pharmacies have closed permanently since October 2016, and many more are withdrawing services or reducing their opening hours, particularly in deprived areas. The MPs have urged the pharmacy minister to commit to making essential changes including a fair and sustainable core funding model, an effective implementation of the Pharmacy First service and an expansion into other clinical service areas.

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."

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has expressed dissatisfaction with the spring budget as it brings "no specific relief" for the community pharmacy sector, which is grappling with "soaring costs and severe medicine supply and pricing issues." UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his Spring Budget on Wednesday, confirming an extra £2.5 billion in day-to-day revenue funding for the NHS in England in 2024-25 and a new NHS productivity plan worth £3.4bn to modernise IT systems. The Chancellor said that day-to-day spending would grow by 1 per cent per year on average in real terms, and the productivity plan is estimated to "unlock £35 billion worth of savings" from 2025-26 to 2029-30. However, CPE chief executive, Janet Morrison commented that the budget has "no obvious good news" for community pharmacies who need "urgent relief from the ongoing unsustainable funding and operational pressures" they are facing. Morrison described the investment in Pharmacy First as "the most significant investment in pharmacies in a decade", but emphasised the need for further support to stabilise the sector and its core contractual arrangements.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s members are seeking immediate rescue packages for the sector to help with energy bills and to ease capacity constraints. In a meeting held on 14th and 15th September, the committee members expressed their anger and frustration on the reluctance of NHS England and government to fund pharmacy sustainably. The meeting was held to consider practical steps to ease the pressures on the community pharmacy sector, and to oversee the progress of negotiations on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) and other work. Committee members, as pharmacy contractors, shared their experiences of the current pressures on all contractors, including the inability to deliver some services and to maintain core service levels; the capacity and workforce crises facing the sector; the critical need for funding support this winter; and the urgent need for Government to adapt the Price Concessions system to meet the needs of contractors. "The Price Concessions system is no longer working for contractors in the current volatile medicine supply environment and PSNC is clear this is not acceptable," said the committee.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) Chief Executive, Janet Morrison met with the new Pharmacy Minister, Dame Andrea Leadsom MP this week and discussed a range of critical topics, including funding and pressures. Janet informed the minister that community pharmacies continue to face immense financial pressures, and highlighted the need for an improved core contract. She told the minister that 35-50 per cent real term cuts and rising costs have led to closures, consolidations and cashflow. This has weakened the capacity for the network to respond to displaced patients, increased risk in terms of the safety of medicine supply, and led to loss of service for communities in the most deprived areas, she said.

Pharmacy bodies are "bitterly disappointed" that the latest deal on the national contract makes no commitment to "fresh funding", with one organisation calling it "the biggest dis-service ever done" to community pharmacy. The only commitment made in monetary terms was one in which NHS England agreed to write off a sum of £100m in excess margin earned by contractors in previous years. This allowance, which can't be seen as new cash injection, was said to have been made in recognition of the pressures facing the sector. The figure - reached after what the the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee called "a tense period of negotiations" with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England - will cover the final two years of the current five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. The deal was announced by PSNC chief executive Janet Morrison at an annual LPC Conference in Manchester on Thursday (22 September). Welcoming the attendees, she assured everyone that the committee was well aware of the pressures the sector was facing. "I heard how contractors are feeling and their frustrations over growing pressure and lack of financial support from the government. They confirmed that many now are unable to deliver the full range of services, and others are struggling to maintain core levels of services. And the ongoing impact of capacity and workforce crisis is critical, leading to temporary closures.

A full CPE Committee Meeting was organised in London on April 17 and 18, 2024, to discuss crucial sectoral issues. Key topics discussed during the two-day meeting included intolerable pressures on pharmacy owners, the ongoing Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations, implementation of the Pharmacy First service, and governance changes. Committee Members reviewed the progress of CPCF negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England. These critical negotiations are being led by the Negotiating Team (NT), which includes independent pharmacy owners and representatives of CCA and non-CCA multiples. The CPE has been advocating for an uplift to the core global sum, margin write-offs, an agreed mechanism for regular funding increases linked to activity and inflation, annual uplifts to service fees, more fundamental reform of the margin delivery framework and an economic review of the medicines supply chain. The Committee also discussed the results of the 2024 Pharmacy Pressures Survey, which was conducted during March and April.

Representatives from the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) presented their preliminary evidence to the Inquiry, which is examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the UK. The UK COVID-19 Inquiry began on 28 June 2022 to examine the UK's preparedness and response to the pandemic, aiming to draw insights for the future. Its investigations are organised into modules, gathering evidence from witnesses, experts and core participants through a series of corresponding hearings throughout each module. A preliminary Module 3 hearing for its investigation into was held at Dorland House, 121 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6BU on Wednesday 10 April at 10.30am. NPA calls for funding to boost pharmacy resilience Presenting its evidence before the inquiry, the NPA highlighted the unsung contribution of pharmacies nationwide in combatting COVID-19 and maintaining health services throughout the pandemic while calling for funding to create greater resilience in community pharmacies.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in collaboration with Health Education England's Centre for Advancing Practice and the Centre for Pharmacy Post Graduate Education (CPPE) will provide a pharmacy-specific professional development pathway for advanced pharmacist practice. Successful completion of the pathway, assured through the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum assessment, will result in pharmacists being recognised by RPS as an advanced pharmacist, along with the awarding of HEE's Centre for Advancing Practice's 'Advanced' digital badge, demonstrating the quality assurance of their advanced practice preparation to patients, families, carers, and other healthcare professionals. The first participants in a fully funded, supported e-portfolio pathway to recognise advanced pharmacist practice in England will get underway in March 2023 This new programme is an important step in creating a clear postgraduate career structure for pharmacists in England. The innovative approach provides funding from HEE's Centre for Advancing Practice in 2023-24 for 300 pharmacists in England who are near to, or already practicing at, an advanced level, to enable them to receive supervision and support in building their RPS Core Advanced e-Portfolio from CPPE's pharmacy education supervisors.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has refused to accept the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s decision to get rid of 'transitional payments' from February 2023. The pharmacy negotiator said that 'any reductions in payments at this point will be impossible for community pharmacy contractors to manage financially.' "We are also continuing to be clear with officials and ministers that CPCF funding needs an urgent uplift to help businesses to cope with soaring costs being driven by inflation and the workforce crisis. We put a comprehensive business case to the government for this uplift in the last CPCF negotiations." The latest 'transitional payments decision' by the Department follows the announcement last year that the value of the these payments would be phased down over the second half of 2022/23 and will be based on the latest monitoring and analysis of funding delivery. PSNC says it submitted a fully-costed bid for a 'Pharmacy First' service in its last round of negotiations alongside the case for an uplift to core CPCF funding. Both of these were refused.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is seeking views from all community pharmacy owners about the pressures faced this autumn season. A survey has been launched as the "November Pre-Committee Opinion Poll" until 6 November to seek views from independents and non-Company Chemists' Association (CCA) members. The results of the poll will be sent to the head offices of CCA multiples next week for discussion at the November Committee Meeting. CPE confirmed: "The results of these polls and the outcomes of the meeting will be reported back to the sector afterwards. They said that the survey "will be used to feed into our ongoing work to press for an uplift to core funding by enhancing our evidence base of what pharmacy owners are experiencing."

Pharmacy wholesaler PHOENIX UK is investing over £13 million to build a new state-of-the-art distribution hub in Wakefield. The 260,000 sq. ft facility is expected to be operational next year and will service community pharmacies, hospitals and dispensing doctors across the North East of England and Yorkshire. In a statement on Tuesday (July 5), PHOENIX UK said the completed hub will feature 22 dock level loading bays and seven access doors to enable the productive arrival and distribution of medical products. It will also be highly energy efficient, including the use of Solar PV on its roof. The car park will also offer 46 electric vehicle charging bays. Speaking at an official opening event held on 30 June to mark the expansion of the company's distribution capabilities, group managing director of PHOENIX Steve Anderson said: "Over the last few years, we have seen an outstanding growth in customer demand for our core services outpacing the market: Wakefield is a prime example of how we are committed to investing in the future by expanding our UK-wide operational capabilities to offer all our customers across the country the best possible service they need, want and deserve.

The King's Fund has published an in-depth analysis highlighting the priorities that the government's new 10-year health plan should address to combat health inequalities. This plan, currently being developed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, will significantly shape the long-term future of the NHS. The independent think tank emphasises that a core focus of this new plan should be to enable the NHS to better address health inequalities and support people with the worst health outcomes. Sarah Woolnough, CEO of The King's Fund, explained: "Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair, and systematic differences in health between different groups of people, and they reflect broader societal issues such as those related to income, housing, gender, ethnicity or disability." "Supporting the health and care system to do more to tackle these differences has been a strategy priority for the Fund over the past five years." Drawing on its extensive work on health inequalities in the last five years, the charity has outlined seven key priorities that should shape the 10-year health plan: