Pharmacists must not rely on ‘sale of cosmetics’, says Lord

Pharmacists should be used to their “full potential” to make a “bigger” contribution to public health rather than being asked “to rely on the sale of cosmetics”, a member of the House of Lords has argued.

RS_1701_Woman-Shopping-Shampoo_1200x675
Pharmacists should not "rely on the sale of cosmetics and over-the-counter products"

Lord Fowler yesterday (January 28) argued that the government has “not used community pharmacies in this country to their full potential” and called for further reliance on the sector to improve public health.

“Should our policy not be to develop community pharmacies so that they make an even bigger contribution to public health in this country,” he asked at a House of Lords debate on community pharmacy closures.

“Would it not be better if pharmacists’ income came from that kind of effort, rather than from asking them to rely on the sale of cosmetics and other over-the-counter commercial products,” he added.

Read more: Wes Streeting: Pharmacies ‘capable of so much more’ than selling shampoo

Lord Fowler’s question echoed comments made by then-shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in 2023 that pharmacies are “capable of doing so much more” than selling shampoo.

During a visit to a Derbyshire pharmacy, Streeting said that “many people still think that pharmacies are a place to get medicines you’ve been prescribed and maybe pick up some shampoo”.

“That’s important work, but pharmacists are capable of doing so much more,” he said at the time, adding that pharmacists are “highly trained, highly skilled, professional people”.

“Optimising their portfolios”

Also speaking in yesterday’s debate, Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville highlighted that “the annual funding shortfall in England stands in excess of £100,000 per pharmacy” and asked whether the sector is “in a healthy state to support the Pharmacy First service”.

“Since 2017, there has been a net loss of 1,200 pharmacies in England, with 35% of closures occurring in 20% of the most deprived areas,” she added.

Read more: Kinnock: ‘Pharmacies are private businesses’ and closures ‘reflect many factors’

In her response, health minister Baroness Merron stressed that “the majority of recent closures were the result of large pharmacy chains optimising their portfolios”, adding that “community pharmacies are private businesses”.

And she noted that “some 98% of pharmacies are signed up to Pharmacy First”, adding that she is “glad about how it is developing”.

Read more: Long delayed funding contract negotiations finally open

Baroness Merron also referred to the commencement of the government’s “consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on funding arrangements”.

Yesterday’s announcement came after months of delay and continuing frustrations within the pharmacy sector – the negotiations were originally set to conclude in March.

Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock said that he is “committed to working closely with CPE to agree a package of funding that is reflective of the important support that [pharmacies] provide to patients up and down the country”.

Sign in or register for free

Latest from Politics

Salary Survey: Do you have faith in the government?

  • comment

After 14 years of Conservative rule, Labour stormed to an election victory in July. Does community pharmacy think the new regime understands pharmacy better than the last one?

‘Tear down the regs and make PrEP readily available’, say MPs

 
• By 
 • comment

Describing the situation as "ridiculous", MPs have called for HIV drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to be made “more readily available” outside of sexual health clinics and to “tear down” the regulations stopping community pharmacies from prescribing the medicine.

Kinnock: Employers must make pharmacy jobs ‘attractive’

 
• By 
 • comment

The pharmacy minister has told MPs that the responsibility “clearly” falls on employers to keep community pharmacists in work by making their jobs “attractive”.

More from Business

breaking news

IN FULL: CPE sets out April to July ‘timeframe’ to deliver new contract

 
• By 
 • comment0

The pharmacy negotiator has revealed that negotiations for this year and next year's funding deal may not be concluded and implemented until July.

exclusive

Multiple meltdown: How many branches of each chain survived 2024?

 
• By 
 • comment1

While branch numbers at some multiples have remained steady over the last year, C+D analysis has found that others, notably Boots, have taken a hit.