National Pharmacy Association comments on Labour’s General Election win

Following the Labour Party’s resounding victory at the general election on 4 July, and the likely appointment of Wes Streeting as Health Secretary, NPA chief executive Paul Rees said today:

“We congratulate Keir Starmer and the Labour party on their victory in the general election. We are excited to work with the new government to show how a properly funded pharmacy network can cut GP and hospital waiting times and dramatically improve the nation’s health.

“We have left the Labour team in no doubt that pharmacies are suffering from a decade of cuts. Every time we have met Wes Streeting – in all likelihood the next Health Secretary – he has spoken warmly about community pharmacies and last week he backed the NPA’s national day of action against pharmacy underfunding, saying that pharmacists across England have been “driven to desperation”.

“He talked about the scale of closures and added: “Labour wants to reverse this shocking trend and put pharmacies at the forefront of our health service”. Now he has to deliver – action is needed immediately to stop the pharmacy closures that are leaving many patients without convenient care close to home.

“We have met Labour’s health team repeatedly to ensure they appreciate the true value of our amazing community pharmacies and share our vision for an expanding clinical role for community pharmacy that cuts GP waiting times and revolutionises primary care.  We will also keep up our dialogue on medicines shortages, which have become a distressing part of everyday life for patients and pharmacy teams in all parts of the UK.”