Responding to a bombshell Christmas move to clawback hundreds of millions of pounds from under the cosh pharmacy owners, Olivier Picard, Chair of the National Pharmacy Association said:
“It’s appalling that the NHS is proposing to claw back millions of pounds each month from pharmacy budgets under an opaque formula, quietly slipped out just before Christmas, that will hit pharmacies indiscriminately. This comes less than a year after Government stood up in April 2025 claiming it was ‘investing in community pharmacy’ and that this was the first step towards sustainability. What we are seeing now directly contradicts those assurances.
“This exposes a complete disconnect between Government rhetoric and the real world facing pharmacies and simply highlights the fact that the current Drug Tariff and pharmacy contract remain seriously underfunded and fundamentally broken. Pharmacies are left unable to predict, even week to week, what their funding will be. That level of uncertainty is damaging and can only hold back the reform the Government rightly wants to see.
“That means pharmacies cannot plan, cannot invest, and are forced to dispense NHS medicines, day after day, often at a loss, with little idea of whether they will be reimbursed adequately. No other part of the NHS would be expected to operate like this.
“That’s no way to run a business and it is absolutely no way to run an essential public health service. It’s time for Government urgently to commit to genuine contract reform that funds medicines supply sustainably, gives pharmacies confidence to invest and aligns words with actions if Ministers are serious about transforming community healthcare.”
