Funding
3The outcome of negotiations between Community Pharmacy England and the Department of Health and Social Care have been announced.
27The long-awaited economic review of community pharmacy has revealed that around half of pharmacies did not turn a profit last year.
2NHS England (NHSE) has confirmed that both the government and pharmacy negotiators have seen the long-awaited economic analysis of the sector – but said that it will not share the report until the pharmacy contract is announced.
9The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has announced that it is advising its 6,000 member pharmacies to limit services and reduce opening hours in protest against “unsustainable” funding.
5The pharmacy minister has revealed that just £82 million of the “up to” £645m Pharmacy First budget was spent in the first eight months of 2024/25 – as an NHS official has revealed that they are “not aware” of further plans to publicise the service.
2Award-winning Wicker Pharmacy has moved out of one of its premises in the hope this will save up to £60,000 a year to stay “sustainable”, it told C+D.
0Members of parliament have argued that the government has not “properly considered” the effects of the upcoming National Insurance Contributions (NICs) hike on community pharmacies.
0The two pharmacy bodies have urged NHS England (NHSE) to “release immediately” its “long-awaited” economic analysis of community pharmacy, stressing that their “collective voice must be heard”.
2GPs must reinstall GP connect, which allows pharmacies to send routine consultation information to their patients’ GP practices, as part of their £889m-boosted contract, NHS England (NHSE) has revealed.
0The Health and Social Care Committee has asked NHS England to respond by March 14 to questions on when the community pharmacy economic analysis will be finished, if it will publish it in full, and if not, why it won’t.
3The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is set to bat for pharmacy staff to be included in NHS sick leave policy, after four workers came down with whooping cough when a colleague returned to work too soon.
0Negotiations without workforce representation and behind closed doors are not acceptable. We need a new approach – one shaped by the people who work on the frontline...
0The Scottish pharmacy negotiator would be “delighted” for funding deal to be reached by April but admit it is “out of our control”.
0Northern Ireland’s Mike Nesbitt said the demand for more services will “require investment” and budgets need to reflect this.
2The negotiator said it had spent a “significant amount of time analysing and discussing the initial offer put to us” during a meeting spread across two days in February.
0Community pharmacy has multiple trade associations representing differing priorities. Does the industry believe they are offering value?
1The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) and National Pharmacy Association (NPA) have called for the government to urgently publish its economic review of the sector during contract negotiations.
0NHS England (NHSE) has greenlit plans for the “vast majority” of vaccination and screening services to be commissioned locally from April next year.
0The pharmacy negotiator has revealed that negotiations for this year and next year's funding deal may not be concluded and implemented until July.
0The government has announced that it has finally “entered into consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE)” on funding and contract arrangements for both this year and next year.