Politics

Previous RPS president Steve Churton has resigned from its England board after taking a “principled stance” over how the body is working towards becoming a royal college.

The government has introduced draft legislation to “permanently cut business rates” for pharmacies and other high-street retailers from 2026 as it continues to come under fire over its recent budget tax hikes, it has revealed.

A US community pharmacy body has welcomed the nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary under Donald Trump’s new administration, despite his controversial comments about vaccines.

The National Pharmacy Association’s (NPA) chief executive will step down from the organisation and move to the nurses’ regulator in the new year, it has announced.

The pharmacy negotiator has called for promised financial rewards for “high-performing” health providers announced as part of a package of NHS reforms to “apply to community pharmacy too”.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has admitted that the system is “no longer supporting” pharmacists, amid overwhelming support for pharmacy collective action.

The National Pharmacy Association’s (NPA) ballot has received near unanimous support in favour of collective action, but it will now wait for the government to respond before advising members to act.

The new end-of-life bill has revealed that pharmacy technicians will play a role in assisted dying if passed, but healthcare professionals will be under “no obligation” to take part.

MPs have urged the government to “go back to the drawing board” and “invest” in community pharmacies as concerns grow about the upcoming hike in employer National Insurance Contributions.

Pharmacies and GPs will not receive additional funding to help with the burden of increased employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), which was announced last week (October 30) in the chancellor’s first Budget, C+D understands.