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The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has written to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) to highlight several important points regarding their proposed "day of action" on 20 June 2024. The NPA describes this initiative as a response to the "emergency across the community pharmacy sector." In a letter addressed to NPA Chair Nick Kaye and Chief Executive Paul Rees, the PDA's director of pharmacy, Jay Badenhorst stressed the need for NPA members to consider their obligations to staff and patients before participating in the planned actions. He stated, "We are supportive of a new contractual framework for the community pharmacy sector." "However, any actions taken must ensure the safety of patients and the operational integrity of pharmacies." The PDA's letter also expressed concerns over the safety and operational impact of the proposed symbolic gestures, including turning off lights and blacking out windows.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) will deliver the national #saveourpharmacies petition to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting on September 19. Over 300,000 people have signed the cross-sector petition in support of hard-pressed community pharmacies across the UK, which have been ravaged by funding cuts over the past decade. The NPA is inviting pharmacy bodies in England to join them on the second national pharmacy day of action to demonstrate unity in calling for a new deal to support the pharmacy sector. Earlier this year, the NPA distributed petition sheets to pharmacies across the country to maximise the number of signatories to increase pressure on the government to act in support of the pharmacy network. In preparation for the September 19 day of action, the NPA is sending out thousands of campaign packs including medicine bag stickers, posters, and postcards, to pharmacies across the UK. Through these materials, the NPA is urging pharmacies and their patients to highlight the issues of funding cuts and closures.

Paul Rees MBE, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), has announced his resignation to take on a new role as interim chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the new year. He will join the NMC on a one-year contract starting January 20, where he will oversee the development of a multi-year programme aimed at transforming the NMC's culture and performance. This follows an independent culture review conducted by Nazir Afzal OBE, which highlighted issues of racism, discrimination, and bullying within the organisation. The NPA is engaging a leading recruitment agency to find its next chief executive, with plans to make an appointment early in the New Year. NPA chair Nick Kaye praised Paul's contributions over the last year, stating: "I'm enormously grateful to Paul and the brilliant NPA team who are doing so much to raise the profile of community pharmacy, campaign for a better deal and improve our outstanding support to members. "Our board and senior team are pressing ahead with our very successful campaigning and our work to transform the support and services we give to pharmacies across the country.

At the UK Covid-19 Inquiry's Module 3 hearings on 10 September, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) highlighted that community pharmacy was "often overlooked and under-recognised" during the pandemic. Lawyer Lee John-Charles, speaking on behalf of the NPA, told the Inquiry that despite the central role played by community pharmacy in the delivery of NHS care throughout the pandemic, community pharmacists and their teams were "not given comparable treatment to other frontline healthcare workers." The NPA criticised the initial exclusion of pharmacy workers from the Life Assurance Scheme for frontline workers in England, calling on the Inquiry to investigate this notable omission. The NPA also pointed out that community pharmacies were forced to source and fund their own personal protective equipment (PPE) as it was not initially available to them through the NHS.

NPA Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), has updated its professional indemnity policy for locum pharmacists to better support their expanding roles in healthcare. The enhanced policy now includes private and NHS prescribing cover for weight loss and other areas of competence, which is available for locums working in pharmacy, general practice and hospital settings. Policyholders will benefit from an extended range of cover, which includes, as standard, the delivery of the NHS Pharmacy First service, the expanded pharmacy contraception service, and the re-launched hypertension case-finding service. Moreover, NPA Insurance has removed charges for vaccine administration, including COVID-19, flu, and travel. Locum pharmacists will also have access to NPA Insurance's award-winning claims team as part of the new policy.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called on the NHS and the Department of Health to immediately publish the government-commissioned analysis of pharmacy underfunding and reveal the true scale of the crisis. Commissioned by NHS England, the long-awaited independent review is expected to "lay bare the perilous financial state" of community pharmacies, which is a vital part of the nation's health infrastructure. However, the NPA is concerned that the government may delay its release until after current funding consultations are concluded. The NPA argued that the public needs to understand the fragile nature of the pharmacy network before any new deal can be agreed. It has also warned health officials not to hide "the true scale of funding needed to reverse a decade of swingeing cuts", which has forced record numbers of pharmacy closures. NPA chair Nick Kaye said: "It would be a scandal to keep that evidence buried secret and leave MPs, pharmacies and the public in the dark." He acknowledged that the new government has inherited a crisis in pharmacy funding and emphasised that it will need to take "strong action" to maintain access to medicines.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) views the COVID vaccination programme as broadly successful, largely due to the efforts of healthcare workers and volunteers. However, it cited some areas that could be improved, notably the early involvement of community pharmacies in planning, operational challenges, and recognising the role of community pharmacy in addressing vaccine hesitancy and inequalities. Submitting its evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry, the NPA highlighted that the community pharmacy should have been consulted and involved earlier in the planning process, considering their two years of experience and expertise in administering annual influenza vaccination programs and the reach and resources of the 14,000 community pharmacies across the UK. "Instead, community pharmacy was initially given a gap in service role, which failed to fully utilize their experience, expertise and resource," Lawyer Brian Stanton told the Inquiry on behalf of the NPA during the Module 4 Preliminary Hearing on 22 May.

David Thomas, owner of LT Chemists in Newport, will replace Raj Aggarwal OBE as the next National Pharmacy Association (NPA) board member for Wales, following an uncontested election this month. Following the conclusion of a nomination process last week, Baldev Bange, Aisling O'Brien, Sehar Shahid, and Sanjay Ganvir have been re-elected to the Board, representing areas of England and Scotland. Ashley Cohen, Sanjeev Panesar, Sukhi Basra, Salim Jetha, Olivier Picard, and Nick Kaye continue their terms without needing to stand for election this time. They still have another two years to run on their terms as board members. Two board positions remain open. The nomination process is ongoing in Northern Ireland, while in England, five NPA members are contesting the remaining seat, which is open to any member with up to five pharmacies. Hustings for the remaining board position in England will take place shortly and a ballot for this position will take place later this month, according to a statement from NPA.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has raised concerns about inaccuracies in media reports regarding a campaign launched by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) to ballot members in protest over funding issues. The PDA clarified that only trade unions, like the PDA Union, can conduct ballots for industrial action. Therefore, it argued that the NPA's action should not be "inaccurately described as a strike or industrial or collective action." The PDA further explained that NPA's proposed ballot pertains to a contractual dispute between businesses operating community pharmacies and the NHS commissioners in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Additionally, the PDA noted that the NPA is not conducting a ballot for its members in Scotland. While some reports have stated that 'pharmacists' are being balloted for the first time to take collective action, the PDA pointed out that many NPA members are, in fact, business owners and investors, not pharmacists.

Sector leaders have welcomed the NPA ballot results, which demonstrate that community pharmacies are prepared to take collective action if a funding increase is not achieved. Nearly all pharmacy owners, who participated in the NPA ballot, said they were willing to limit their services to protest funding cuts. Commenting on the poll results, Malcolm Harrison, CEO of the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) said: "The results of the NPA ballot serves to underline the huge pressure that pharmacy contractors face, following a decade of underfunding. He emphasised the need to start the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) renegotiations for 2024/25 without delay. "The government and NHS must uplift all elements of the contractual framework, to stop further reductions in pharmacy opening hours and permanent pharmacy closures, and to ensure that patients can continue to receive the medicines and clinical care and advice they need," he added. Harry McQuillan, Chairman of Numark, stated that while the NPA ballot outcome has once again brought the financial crisis facing the sector into focus, this is "an everyday reality" for many independent pharmacies and that it has reached "breaking point." He warned that rising operational costs including the increase in national insurance and minimum wage will push many more to the brink.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has raised the alarm that many community pharmacies are facing losses on NHS prescriptions due to the "broken" funding system. An analysis of prescription drug prices by the NPA revealed that pharmacies are being underpaid by the NHS by up to £75 a pack for common medicines, resulting in losses of thousands of pounds each month. The analysis report released today (16 October) shows the government reimburses £18.06 for a 56-tablet pack of Amantadine, a drug used to treat Parkinson's symptoms. However, the market price of the drug is £94.05 per pack, leading to a loss of £75.99 per 56-tablet pack for pharmacies-amounting to a shortfall of over £1 per tablet. In some instances, NHS funding covers only one-fifth of the cost that pharmacies have to pay for medicines, according to new figures from the NPA.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that it would go ahead with the planned collective action if consultations on the current financial year's funding do not commence this month and if a proposed deal fails to meet their minimum tests. New estimates from the NPA show that if collective action goes ahead, over 17,000 hours of pharmacy time per week could be lost to patients, totaling around 900,000 hours over the course of the year. The organisation has laid out five key tests that any funding package from the government must meet. It has demanded that the government and NHS England present an offer that meets rising costs, starts to bridge historic funding gaps and gives a roadmap to a sustainable financial future, along with reform of the broken Drug Tariff. Additionally, the NPA stated that the current system of pharmacy remuneration for medicine supply, which often results in dispensing at a loss, must undergo fundamental change as part of long-term reforms.

The UK has witnessed a nearly 50 percent increase in pharmacy closures this year compared to the same period in 2023, which was already considered the worst year in recent memory. A new analysis by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) revealed that 177 pharmacies closed their doors between January and April 2024, compared to 116 in the same period last year. This is the equivalent of 10 local pharmacies shutting down every week. Analysis of NHS figures by the NPA showed that 403 pharmacies closed their doors last year, nearly five times higher than the number that closed in 2022. Since 2017, over 1,400 pharmacies have shut down across the UK. Rising costs and declining real terms funding have led to the fastest rate of closures in decades, said the NPA, highlighting that "real terms funding has decreased by 40 per cent over the last decade."

In a decisive move highlighting the financial strain faced by community pharmacies, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) submitted a £108 million invoice to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) today (16 May). According to the NPA, this substantial sum represents the amount that pharmacies in England personally covered for the dispensing of NHS medicines last month, as a result of inadequate funding. "The £108m figure is an average monthly figure based on the loss to pharmacy incomes over the past decade," it said. The association believes that mass closures can be prevented only when the government stops expecting pharmacies to subsidise the cost of delivering NHS care. NPA chief executive Paul Rees, said: "The soaring costs of dispensing medicine coupled with declining real terms funding has led to community pharmacies in England having to subsidise the dispensing of drugs to the tune of £108m a month.

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.

Pharmacy teams across the country are joining forces for the second day of protest, organised by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), as part of its #SaveOurPharmacies campaign, on Thursday (September 19). A cross-sector delegation will present a petition signed by a record-breaking 350,000 people to No 10 Downing Street. The delegation will include National Pharmacy Association (NPA) CEO Paul Rees, NPA Chair Nick Kaye, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) Chief Executive Janet Morrison, Company Chemists' Association (CCA) CEO Malcolm Harrison, and Community Pharmacy NI Chief Executive Gerard Greene, The Save Our Pharmacies petition has surpassed the previous record held by a Royal College of GPs in 2014, whose petition, addressing the issue of general practice funding, secured 300,000 signatures. The NPA is hopeful that this show of solidarity by pharmacy teams will make a difference and open up conversations in Westminster and Whitehall.

The Government has been forced to intervene formally 50 times in the past two years to authorise the use of alternative drugs because of serious medicine shortages hitting patients, new analysis by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has found today. 78 per cent of all Serious Shortage Protocols, produced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) due to medicine shortages, were issued in 2022/24 - more than three times the rate in the previous two years. The NPA, which represents independent community pharmacies in the UK, is warning that shortages are leading to pharmacists having to increasingly turn patients needing vital medication away. Analysis by the NPA of the NHS's Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) issued to pharmacies and other providers over the last five years has found that: The number of SSPs issued in the last two years is 3.5 times higher than in the previous two years.

Community pharmacies played a crucial role in the Covid-19 vaccination programme, delivering over 42 million Covid-19 vaccinations. Nevertheless, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) believes that there are valuable lessons to be learned to improve the health service's response to future crises. The association highlighted key areas for improvement in its oral statement during the public hearings for Module 4 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry-focusing on Vaccines and Therapeutics-on 15 January. Representing the NPA, legal representative Deirdre Domingo urged the Inquiry to consider the following points to optimise the delivery of future vaccination programmes. Effective planning and the involvement of community pharmacy from the outset Improving operational delivery of the vaccination booking system Addressing vaccine hesitancy and equality issues Utilising existing resources and expertise Reducing the unrealistic expectations on healthcare workers and managing the impact on them

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has disclosed alarming figures on pharmacy closure in England, attributing them to the impact of funding cuts. According to NPA analysis of NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) data, 222 pharmacies permanently closed their doors in 2024, marking the second-highest annual closure rate on record. This equates to an average of four pharmacies closing each week. Nearly 90 per cent of council areas have seen at least one pharmacy shut permanently in just the last two years. NPA chair Nick Kaye voiced concern that pharmacies have been "pushed to breaking point" by 40 per cent real terms cuts to their budgets and the ones still open are left "hanging on by their fingertips" and could be forced to close without "an urgent increase in their funding." "It is patients that have lost out the most, with more people in isolated areas having to travel further for vital medication as well as access to medical advice convenient to them," he said.

Community pharmacies are bracing themselves to withdraw services from patients after an industry ballot supported plans for major action unless the government provided a significant increase in funding for the sector. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) on Tuesday (12) announced the results of an unprecedented collective action ballot in which nearly all pharmacy owners, who participated in the ballot, voted to limit their services, insisting that a lack of additional funding is jeopardising patients health and safety. Over 63 per cent of NPA members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the ballot- representing 3,049 independent community pharmacies in England alone, or 3,399 with Wales and Northern Ireland included. Nearly 98 per cent of pharmacy owners in England voted to reduce their opening hours to the minimum required by their contract. This could result in fewer pharmacies remaining open during evenings and weekends. More than 93 per cent voted to stop offering "unfunded" free home deliveries of medicines, and over 96 per cent voted to withdraw from locally commissioned services, including certain addiction support, emergency contraception, and stop smoking services.