The clock is ticking for a deal

This week, we reflect on the gap between the cost of our service to millions of patients and the funding provided to pay for it. We reinforce the maximum pressure on CPE, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England.

As I write this, it remains unclear what, if any, offer will be made to community pharmacy by the Department of Health and NHS England.

What is clear is that there is a yawning gap between the cost of our service to millions of patients and the funding provided to pay for it.

At the NPA we are clear what pharmacies need and set out five concrete tests for success. We also know we need to cover inflation and government-imposed cost increases like national insurance and the national living wage and make progress towards filling that funding gap.

We know many of your are facing a financial crunch in April and need certainty about funding, certainty about pharmacy first and, frankly, a bit of hope.

I’ll be clear. We are putting maximum pressure on CPE, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England to put a proper deal on the table, and if it’s not good enough, we’ll have no choice but to recommend our members take action. That would represent a historic moment for pharmacies and we will make that call when we can have maximum effect. I fear it is drawing very near.

I am talking direct to the senior leadership team at CPE, and to senior officials at the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England over the next few days to make plain the strength of feeling about our financial situation, and the effect it has on patients. I’m leaving them in no doubt that we need to save our network now, and start talking right away about how we can improve and reform it for the future.

To help you, we’re publishing guidance on how to reduce hours, how to end free deliveries and free MDS packs – taking those steps will always be your choice, but they will take time and care to bring patients along with you so our guidance will help.

Our colleague Patricia Ojo joined NPA Vice-Chair Olivier Picard in a brilliant webinar last night to explain how she pulled away from free services. NPA colleagues are also working hard on a programme to help members expand services and make your business more sustainable. We’ll say more about that in the coming months.

It feels like things are moving fast, and there are lots of unknowns. But our campaign will not stop and we will not stop supporting your pharmacies.