NPA welcomes £300m cash injection

We are relieved to get today’s announcement of a £300m advanced payment to meet increased medicines costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

This cash injection is essential to help cover the vastly increased cost of meeting rising demand for prescription medicines.

It will give medicines wholesalers greater confidence that pharmacies can meet their patients’ needs without defaulting on their wholesaler bills. And it will allow pharmacies to keep supplying the people of England with their medicines.

While it is an essential first step, this is only part of the support needed to keep vital frontline services going. We expect government to make good on commitments to meet all the additional costs associated with coronavirus, to help pharmacies maintain services not only now but also into the future.

Urgent discussions are continuing about new funding to meet the additional costs incurred by pharmacies, such as employing extra staff and safeguarding their health by installing protective fittings. We look forward to the fulfilment of undertakings made by the Chancellor and NHS chief Simon Stevens to cover all extra costs incurred by NHS providers during this pandemic.

To help PSNC calculate the extra costs you are facing, the NPA is surveying our members right now. Please help us to help you, by using some of the precious few minutes of spare time you have today to fill in the survey. 

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, many pharmacies were experiencing significant cash-flow problems, but the pandemic is exacerbating the situation dramatically. So this is a critically important development, even though much more support is now needed.

Visit the NPA’s dedicated covid-19 webpage for the latest news and resources.