Reform UK’s manifesto, published yesterday (June 17), set out a priority to “save A&E” by cutting waiting times with a campaign of “Pharmacy First, GP Second, A&E Last”.
It added that if elected, it will “offer tax incentives for new pharmacies and those who employ more staff to assist in relieving pressure on A&E”.
Vote in the week four C+D election sentiment tracker poll
No further detail was provided on the plans.
However, the manifesto said that its NHS-related pledges as a whole would cost £17 billion per year.
How will the sector vote?
It comes as support for “other” parties - including Reform UK - has lifted in week three of C+D’s election sentiment tracker as Labour maintains the lead despite a fall in support.
The third week of C+D’s election sentiment tracker ahead of the July 4 general election saw “other” parties leap in popularity among respondents to 29% from 19% last week.
Read more: C+D election tracker: Sector poll sees rise of the significant ‘other’
But LinkedIn’s polling service limits the number of options available to four, raising a question about the composition of the ascendant “other”.
C+D is running a supplementary poll this week to unpack how the mysterious “other” is composed.
What have the parties pledged so far?
Yesterday (June 13), Plaid Cymru’s wide-ranging manifesto for “a real alternative for Wales” promised drug tariff reforms and a review into the medicines supply chain “to ensure that patients get the medication that they need, when they need it” as its major community pharmacy pledges.
Labour also launched its manifesto on Thursday, leading with a promise to ease GP "pressure" by granting pharmacists more "prescribing rights" with the creation of a community pharmacist prescribing service.
Read more: Lib Dems pledge 'fairer' funding and ‘more pharmacist prescribing rights’
Labour promised to "shift resources to primary care and community services" as it set forth a vision of the NHS becoming a "Neighbourhood Health Service".
On Wednesday, the Green Party’s manifesto release saw it promise “access to the HIV prevention pill online, in pharmacies and from GP services” to “end new cases” of the disease, and a “push” for “£2bn capital investment in primary care over the next five years”.
Read more: Green Party pledges to make PrEP available in pharmacies and online
On Tuesday, the Conservative Party revealed that it expects spending on the Pharmacy First service to increase by £250m by 2027 in its manifesto.
This came as it reiterated that the party would "expand Pharmacy First, including for menopause support, contraception and treatment for chest infections".
Read more: Plaid Cymru pushes for drug tariff reform ahead of July 4 general election
And on Monday, the Liberal Democrat Party said that it would prioritise securing “a fairer and more sustainable long-term funding model for pharmacies” and “build on the Pharmacy First approach to give patients more accessible routine services”.
It also pledged to make prescriptions for people with chronic mental health conditions free on the NHS as part of its "commitment to review the entire schedule of exemptions for prescription charges".
Be sure to add your vote as C+D’s weekly general election sentiment tracker continues into its fourth week - and vote in our supplementary poll, which will ask if your significant “other” is Lib Dem, Green, Reform, or SNP/Plaid Cymru.
