Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA)

After our successful member event in February, we are now looking forward to welcoming our members and partners to our next event which takes place on 10th of April. We have a lot to discuss. Agendas will be shared with the attendees closer to the time. Our events are hugely popular, where best in class businesses and pharmacy operatives have the oppprtunity to network with each other, hear about the most relevant topics in community pharmacy and contribute to the discussions. All attendees will need to be registered please - registration closes on 2nd April. See you there ?? #Pharmacy

The Economic Review Report into community pharmacy finances must be published urgently. We have drafted a letter together with the NPA calling on NHS England to release the Economic Review Report. We are asking the pharmacy network to engage with this and sign it. Our collective voice must be heard. #Pharmacy #EconomicReview #NHS https://lnkd.in/ea94erVW

Last week our CEO Leyla Hannbeck and our board members Manjeet Jhooty and David Vanns were invited to attend the Labour Party gala dinner in Coventry as community pharmacy representatives. They had the opportunity to have discussions with senior Labour MPs, politicians and members of the cabinet, including Secretary of Sate for Defence John Healey, Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood, Member of the Health and Social Care Committee Paulette Hamilton, the Mayor of West Midlands Richard Parker and Whip Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury Taiwo Owatemi. They discussed the direction of travel for the NHS, the role of NHSE, and they did a lot of advocacy for our sector and its important role in primary care. #Pharmacy #NHS #PrimaryCare

A productive meeting with Leyla Hannbeck of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) to discuss the vital role of community pharmacies in bolstering the NHS and delivering essential care to our communities. It makes sense in raw economic terms - they calculate that investing in these pharmacies yields significant benefits, with every ￡1 invested potentially generating up to a ￡14 return for the economy. But, more than that, it helps our mission to pivot to communities and empower individuals to take more responsibility for their health. #Healthcare #CommunitySupport #NHSStrength

Great to see that the Chair of the Parliament’s Heath and Social Care Committee has written to the CEO of NHS England asking for an update on when the community pharmacy Economic Review Report will be published. They have asked NHS England to respond to their questions by 14th March. Please see the letter below ?? On behalf of our members we have been very vocal issuing several statements about the urgency of this report to be published and we have also been in regular contact with Parliamentarians to this effect. Our statements about this topic are here: https://lnkd.in/eV27iB72 Twitter: https://lnkd.in/eSMTdgam This is indeed good news that the Health and Social Care Committee have heard community pharmacies’ voice regarding the importance of this report to be published promptly and have written to NHS England to enquire about it. We are asking that the officials release this report, which was funded by the tax payers, to the public as soon as possible. #Pharmacy #NHS

The Health Insight Survey for January has revealed that 89.4% of people were satisfied with their experience using NHS England pharmacy services. This represents an increase from rates registered the month before. The NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board saw the highest level of satisfaction, whilst the Coventry and Warwickshire ICB saw the lowest. This data comes amidst news reports of a pharmacy crisis. Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive officer of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) has said: “The main concern for community pharmacy remains the lack of adequate core funding. The sector needs the headroom to be able to manage debt then move forward with a remuneration model that gives both stability and the potential to invest, plan, and prepare for the future.”

Following the reports published earlier this week highlighting 82 death associated with weight-loss medicines, we have called for weight-loss jabs to be provided face to face only. This is to ensure accurate and safe supply of these medicines and eliminating risk factors such as patients misrepresenting their weight using proxys to conduct consultations, changing the settings on the scales (their scales may not be calibrated) etc. Our interview with the Sun newspaper about this topic is included below?? https://lnkd.in/eZa4K-Ys #Pharmacy #Weightloss General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

Pleased to see the House of Lords have voted to exempt community pharmacies from the increase in Emplyer’s National Insurance (NI). We have been outlining from the onset when the Treasury announced their plans to hike the employers’ NI, that this will be a disaster for the already cash starved community pharmacies. We provided data and calculations to showcase this harsh impact on the pharmacy network. Please see below ?? https://lnkd.in/ey_fZzYW https://lnkd.in/eX_ZCBcN Ever since, we have been campaigning tirelessly, speaking with Parliamentarians, Peers and decision-makers to exempt community pharmacies from the increase to emplyers’ NI. We welcome this vote in the Lords, and now call on Members of the Parliament (MPs) to follow suit and exempt pharmacies from this increase. We will continue our campaign to this effect. #Budget #Pharmacy

Call to action NHS England commissioned an independent Economic Review into community pharmacy funding. This report has been completed for weeks but its publication is being delayed. No reason has been given for the delay. As per our statement below, we believe that it is fundamental that this report is published before DHSC and NHSE discussions with our sector about funding are concluded. We are, therefore asking all pharmacy owners in England to come together & demonstrate outside of the NHSE offices to demand for this report to be published as soon as possible. We are also asking all pharmacy bodies to support this call to action. Leyla Hannbeck #pharmacy #NHS https://lnkd.in/dpm2A8tF

We are calling on NHSBSA Data Services to bring forward advance payments to pharmacies from the 12th to the 1st of each calendar month. We have written to the officials at Department of Health and Social Care to this effect. This is because technology allows NHSBSA to do this and this has huge financial benefits for the community pharmacy network at virtually no cost to the NHS. Currently large amounts of money, time and stress are spent by community pharmacists arranging monthly commercial facility bridges to finance the first two weeks of the month when their cash flow turns negative as they must pay suppliers before the NHS pays them. Our full statement below ?? Leyla Hannbeck #Pharmacy