The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has today announced that it will not be recommending collective action to its members.
The NPA, the largest community pharmacy membership body in the UK representing around 6000 independent community pharmacies, said the recent funding offer from the government represented a ‘clear step forward’ after a decade of cuts.
It said it wanted to work with the government to help them improve care for millions of people and bring care closer to communities through reform of primary care with community pharmacy at its heart.
However, the NPA said its members remained deeply concerned that investment remained significantly below the estimated costs of providing services for millions of patients and urged Ministers to start discussions on reform to ensure patients have sustainable services in the future.
Although the government’s funding offer was a strong positive signal to the sector and is the first real terms increase pharmacies have seen since 2014, it still leaves community pharmacy facing a gap of around £2.5 billion according to NHS England’s independent economic analysis.
The analysis also showed that half of pharmacies last year made a loss and 78 per cent were not sustainable in the short term.
In November, for the first time in its 104 year history, 99.7 per cent of the around two-thirds of pharmacies who responded to the NPA’s ballot said they would be prepared to withdraw services to patients if no substantial increase in funding was agreed.
This included the option to reduce their opening hours to contractual minimums as well as withdraw from services that they are not paid for such as free medicine deliveries.
The NPA said today they understood that individual pharmacies might still have to take steps to save costs, but said it would not recommend co-ordinated protest action.
The NPA has warned that the situation remains perilous for many pharmacies and it urged the government to set out a roadmap to address the challenges set out by the analysis and ensure the sustainability of the community pharmacy network.
The NPA said it was proud of the campaign it has run, which has significantly raised the political profile of the crisis facing community pharmacy and helped put more money on the table for pharmacy services.
Nick Kaye, Chair of the National Pharmacy Association said:
“It is clear that the government has inherited an intolerable situation and the latest announcement is a step forward after 11 years of funding squeezes.
“After much careful deliberation we have decided not to recommend our members take collective action in light of this offer, which we hope can act as a turning point after many years of neglect.
“We are concerned that, despite much needed additional investment, pharmacies will face a substantial gap and some will still need to make tough decisions in the short term to keep their doors open.
“We want to work with Ministers to improve services for patients through reform that delivers stronger and more sustainable care in the community but will be watching closely to see if the additional investment will have a stabilising effect on the pharmacy network.
“We are proud to have given voice to pharmacies and helped the cause of putting more money on the table for our network. The last few months have shown that pharmacists – like GPs, hospital doctors and nurses – are a strong voice that must be heard.
“We are glad that Ministers have listened to patients and pharmacies. We want to work with them to deliver their ambition to create better outcomes for patients and the health service and a sustainable long-term future for pharmacies by reforming the broken contract between pharmacies and the NHS.
“Pharmacies are uniquely placed to achieve the government’s ambition of delivering care close to communities and with the right support have the potential to provide a much wider range of services to patients.”
