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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 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.

PSNC has urged community pharmacy contractors and LPCs to engage with their local MPs on the immense pressures that pharmacies are facing. The organisaiton has also published some new resources to help pharmacists in this regard. "PSNC is deeply aware of the funding crisis affecting the sector and is working hard to increase the pressure on [the] government to act now with an urgent funding uplift. This has included upping investment in influencing activities and working closely with LPCs to take united action," it said. PSNC has last month launched its Four Point Plan to safeguard the future of community pharmacy, setting out how pharmacy could be the solution to a number of problems if, and only if, it is properly funded, resourced and supported. As pressures continue to mount, further briefings now focus solely on the urgent need to resolve the funding squeeze in order to protect existing pharmacy services.

Data crunched by an online pharmacy delivery company paints a concerning picture for the pharmacy sector in England. Gophr's 'Prescription For Pressure' initiative reveals a challenging time for the sector and is supported by separate analysis by the BBC showing that the number of pharmacies in England is at its lowest since 2010. In addition, new powers being introduced for pharmacists to prescribe common prescription drugs and perform routine tests create an even greater workload for already overstretched pharmacists. Gophr's data reveals that: * Each pharmacy in England serves an average of 6,078 people. * In 2022, pharmacists dispensed 1.043 billion prescriptions, 26.3 million more than 2021. * A single pharmacy in England dispensed 248 prescriptions a day on average in 2022. Based on the most up-to-date statistics from the Office for National Statistics, NHS England and Statista, Gophr's calculations show that pharmacists have around 116 seconds to dispense a prescription, which is less time than the 180 seconds it takes to make a Quarter Pounder at McDonald's.

After engaging with contractors and stakeholders of NHS Community Pharmacy, the pharmacy review steering group (RSG) is planning to put proposals to contractors' vote before Easter 2022. The group, made up of representatives from the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, Company Chemists' Association and independent community pharmacy, was formed in late 2020 to explore the future of community pharmacy network support. After engagement with the sector, the RSG has defined the roles of the local and national representative bodies, considered the contractor decision-making process, and worked through analysis and suggestions on local representation. It is now focusing on national representation and support.

Professor Harry McQuillan has said community pharmacists in the UK must change their focus from an 'accuracy of supply' to a 'safety of supply' model when it comes to dealing with patients. "The main take away message from tonight's lecture is for pharmacy professionals to really challenge themselves about whether they are focused on accuracy of supply or safety of supply," he said at this year's UCL School of Pharmacy Lecture in London on Thursday, 15 June. "For our community pharmacists it must be about safety, including prescribing, and ensuring patients and citizens get the maximum benefit from prescribed medicines. "To deliver this, we need to invest in our teams - harness technology and always be willing to take the next step in a more clinical future." The Chief Executive Office of Community Pharmacy Scotland, however, noted that at a time when the UK was grappling with an unprecedented national debt crisis exacerbated by severe cost of living and spiraling inflation, community pharmacy will need to make a "compelling case" of where the priority should be in the sector. Expanding on the financial woes of the country, he compared the current national debt of the UK, which stood at a staggering 270 percent of GDP in September 2022, with the previous record-breaking national debt of 250 per cent at the end of WWII.

Community Pharmacy England, Company Chemists Association, and the National Pharmacy Association have all expressed their disappointment at a recent press statement made by Dr Leyla Hannbeck, Chief Executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies. The CPE, CCA and NPA refuted AIMp's claim that pharmacy bodies operate independently, emphasising the importance of employing various channels and strategies to shape public policy. "It makes sense to use a variety of channels and tactics to influence public policy," NPA, CPE and CCA said in a joint statement issued on Wednesday (August 13). "Limiting our work to just one Parliamentary channel would be naive and do a disservice to pharmacy owners." On Aug. 12, AIMp highlighted that a lack of cohesion was one of the contributing factors to the sector's difficulty in gaining wider attention. Dr. Hannbeck argued that it's counterproductive for each pharmacy organisation to maintain its own manifesto, essentially a lengthy wish-list that is often unrealistic and unattainable. "This can conveniently allow those in power to easily employ a divide-and-conquer strategy," she said.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has commissioned Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund to develop a new vision and strategic options for community pharmacy. The report is expected to be published in early summer next year, to underpin the future strategy for the sector. It will also support negotiations between PSNC and policymakers as the current five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) comes to an end. Those negotiations will decide what happens after April 2024, and they will be critical to the future of the sector. The development of a compelling vision and an effective strategy for community pharmacy was a key recommendation from the Pharmacy Representation Review Steering Group (RSG). It forms one of the workstreams of the Transforming Pharmacy Representation Programme (TAPR) currently being undertaken by PSNC. But it is also a project that PSNC wants to undertake anyway to help lay the foundations for those crucial upcoming negotiations.

Bristol-based Titan PMR, a technology firm specialising in PMR systems for community pharmacies, is set to roll out an innovative platform named 'Titanverse,' that it claims will redefine pharmacy management, offering comprehensive solutions extending beyond prescription management. This new platform takes a versatile approach, efficiently managing all facets of pharmacy operations, from high-level management down to daily tasks, according to top company officials. "Our aim is to reshape pharmacies into genuine health hubs, providing advanced services and harnessing state-of-the-art technologies," said Tariq Muhammad, CEO of Titan PMR. "Titanverse, our latest offering, is positioned to ignite this transformation, revolutionising clinical services in the same way its predecessor revolutionised dispensing. With Titanverse, we have the vehicle to drive this vision forward, placing pharmacies at the forefront of primary care in the future." Titanverse adopts a Teams approach, catering to pharmacies with multiple locations or specific focuses. It furnishes real-time analytics and employs a color-coded rating system for swift performance evaluation. Moreover, the platform eases operations by enabling task delegation, encompassing clinical checks and dispensing, all while backing private services with adaptable templates and workflows.

Salrook Healthcare, a family-run pharmacies in Chester has sold its two well-established community pharmacies named Westminster Park Pharmacy on Castle Croft Road and Owen's Chemist on Chester Street. Together, they dispense circa 13,000 items per month. The business has been owned by the Persaud family since 2014 and was recently brought to the market as a retirement sale. Following a confidential process with Christie & Co, it has been purchased by Aqib Sheikh, an existing operator with a pharmacy in Walsall, West Midlands. Aqib plans to enhance the business's service offering and grow his portfolio in the region. Chloe Yadav (nee Persaud), previous owner of Salrook Healthcare Limited, comments, "As a family, we are delighted to have completed the sale of the business to Aqib. Whilst we will miss our team who have become like family, it is good to know that the two sites have been acquired by a forward- thinking Pharmacist who will enhance the offering to the benefit of the patients and the community which they serve. My family and I wish Aqib and the whole team the very best of luck with the future." Aqib Sheikh, new owner of Salrook Healthcare Limited, comments, "I am delighted to have inherited such a well-run and profitable pair of pharmacy businesses in the charming city of Chester. I'd like to wish John Persaud the very best with his retirement and look forward to building on the work of the Persaud family."

Community pharmacies are located within the very hotspots of peoples' communities, yet a staggering 720 individual businesses have stopped trading since 2015. It has been called a "national disgrace and a betrayal to the elderly and the vulnerable" by sector leaders. The funding crisis has been compounded by a gruelling 18-24 months post-Covid, both have which have placed immense pressure on the retail pharmacy sector. The population is aging and with this comes patients living with a range of long-term health conditions. Medication regimes are becoming ever more complex and as a result, maintaining prescription and medication adherence services is challenging to say the least. Yet the public feel great warmth towards their local pharmacy businesses, and this positive attitude only increased during the pandemic. In fact, in a recent report launched by Omnicell on the Changing Role of the Pharmacist, a survey of public opinion found that a third (32 per cent) said they perception of their local pharmacy had changed for the better since the start of the pandemic and nearly half (44 per cent) said they are more familiar with their local pharmacy services since the start of COVID. This has meant that the role of the pharmacist has also changed and evolved; in part due to a national need and drive for more patients to be seen and supported clinically by pharmacists. This change of service provider role has slowly been developing over the last couple of years. Pharmacists are currently carrying out 65 million consultations a year - a staggering rise of 44 per cent in the last 24 months alone.

Boots has welcomed job applications from LloydsPharmacy staff impacted by the news of closure of all its branches located in Sainsbury's before the end of 2023. The company is recruiting for more than 1,500 pharmacy roles nationwide. Vacancies span pharmacy roles at all levels - from Pharmacy Advisors (Dispensers) and Trainee Pharmacists to experienced Pharmacists looking to develop their careers. Sebastian James, Managing Director of Boots UK & ROI, said: "Pharmacies deliver vital healthcare in the heart of communities. News of the closure of LloydsPharmacy branches within Sainsbury's stores will no doubt have an impact on many talented pharmacists as well as their patients. "We have many roles available at Boots and welcome applications from LloydsPharmacy employees affected by the closures. Patients who are worried about their future pharmacy provision can check our store locator online to find out where their nearest Boots store is - our pharmacy team members are ready to help." There are over 2,200 Boots stores across the UK and 85% of the population live within 10 minutes of a Boots store.

The 14th Community Pharmacy Conference by Sigma Pharmaceuticals has been timely, prime minister Rishi Sunak said, noting that it coincided with the launch of Pharmacy First, a new initiative that enables patients to receive treatments for seven common conditions directly from a pharmacist without the need for a GP appointment or prescription. "We are all grateful for the tremendous contributions that pharmacists make to our NHS. The fantastic work you do is critical to the success of Pharmacy First and many other initiatives," Sunak said in a written message. The conference was organised from 25-29 February at Sun City in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme 'community pharmacy in an integrated NHS'. In a recorded video address to the Sigma Conference, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said community pharmacies are 'critical' to the Labour party's mission to make the NHS 'fit for the future'. "You should be playing a much more significant role. Labour's reform agenda will get pharmacists working to the top of their licence. We want community pharmacists to play a greater role in healthcare, with more focus on their expertise in prescribing and medicines management," he said.

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

Since the introduction of the 2019 NHS Long-Term Plan, several policy commitments have surfaced, presenting a definitive 'blueprint' for community pharmacy in England. The Company Chemists Association has identified four crucial commitments that, when integrated, hold the potential to revolutionise patient care through community pharmacies. "Each commitment is like a crucial piece of a puzzle," CCA said. "For the transformation of patient access through community pharmacy to be successful, all these pieces must come together harmoniously. Otherwise, the picture will remain incomplete." The four major pieces of the puzzle coined by CCA include: * Building on education and training reforms to increase the size and capability of the workforce. * Expanding the number of clinical services commissioned and delivered in community pharmacy. * Introducing digital enablers which underpin service delivery. * Introducing legislative changes to increase capacity and allow the delivery of more patient-facing clinical care.

In partnership with Oxford University Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched the 'RPS Pharmacy and Pharmacology' reports. RPS Pharmacy and Pharmacology Reports is a new, fully open access journal and the sister journal to Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacology. The journal is edited by Professor Dennis Douroumis, professor in Pharmaceutical Technology and Process Engineering at the University of Greenwich. RPS said: "The journal aims to create a truly interdisciplinary forum for members of the pharmacy, pharmacology, chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology communities alike to come together to develop life-changing medicines of the future. The journal prioritises scientifically sound results from pharmacy and pharmacology researchers across the world." The journal operates a rapid review and publication process to ensure impactful research is disseminated as quickly as possible. All RPS members are eligible to receive a 20 per cent discount on the article processing charge.

Chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee Janet Morrison has said government ministers are looking at the future of community pharmacy in England in a "bigger way" and have a vision to go "beyond the Scotland model". "I think they believe they're going beyond the Scotland model," she said, in her closing keynote at the 7th Annual Pharmacy Business Conference held in London on Sunday (May 14). Giving her views on the latest government funding - worth £645 million - for community pharmacy, the head of pharmacy negotiator, added: "Their thinking is for the future in a bigger and a more forward-thinking way." She added it was for the first time that community pharmacy has been seen "as part of primary care in a really fundamental way that gives us hope for the future". Morrison said the new funding uplift was effectively "for five quarters of activity," arguing that the common condition service won't start before December or early in the New Year due to the time it would take to get the IT systems up and running to support the rollout.

In its response to NHS England's consultation on 'the future of vaccination services', the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has suggested that a wider range of NHS vaccinations being available from community pharmacies could support the achievement of increased vaccination levels. PSNC said: "Any additional services that contractors could provide can only be considered with additional remuneration above the current global sum in the community pharmacy contractual framework to ensure that the services are adequately resourced." Alastair Buxton, director of NHS Services at PSNC, said: "We've always known, and the evidence supports this, that community pharmacies are one of the most popular and accessible places for people to receive a range of vaccinations. "The NHS was slow to take advantage of this at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, so we welcome this consultation from them to bring together a wide range of views on the topic. "In the longer-term, if the right funding and support is in place, many pharmacies could help deliver a much wider range of NHS vaccination programmes - giving the public the convenience and service that they want, and taking pressure off our general practice colleagues. It makes perfect sense, and we look forward to the NHS response to this consultation."

Professional leadership bodies from around the world discussed workforce shortages in community pharmacy and other challenges affecting the sector at a global meeting held in Paris last month. Delegated from Denmark, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, US and the UK updated the conference on how the profession was progressing in practice, technology and workforce development in their respective countries. The UK was represented at World Pharmacy Council meeting by National Pharmacy Association chair Andrew Lane and chief executive at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee Janet Morrison. Lane said: "It's very useful to be part of a global network of pharmacy bodies who are all going through similar challenges as we are in the UK. Sharing intelligence on other pharmacy systems around the world helps us to prepare the right strategy for engaging with the NHS at home. "Hearing some of the strides in services and digital technology in the profession gives us hope for the future of the sector. It's clear however that key challenges such as workforce shortages are starting to have an effect in other parts of the world too."

Acknowledging publication of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Scotland's new professional vision for the future of pharmacy in Scotland - Pharmacy 2030, a Parliamentary Motion has been lodged in the Scottish Parliament. The vision, produced in collaboration with the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland, expects all pharmacists in a patient-facing role to become independent prescribers by 2030. The motion recognised the aim of the publication that by 2030 pharmacy teams will work together, using their expertise to make the best use of medicines and, will take a person-centred approach, providing care holistically rather than by clinical condition. It highlighted the important role that RPS would play by working with partners across health and social care to turn this vision into a reality.