Political and stakeholder engagement

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launches Pharmacy First at an NPA member pharmacy in Westminster.

 

Political and stakeholder engagement

The NPA works tirelessly to push community pharmacy up the political agenda and ensure the sector gets the recognition and support it deserves.

Who we are and what we believe

 

Four months of high level talks:

  • November Suhki Basra, NPA board member, holds discussions with Health Secretary Victoria Atkins on her second full day in office
  • December Paul Rees, CEO, meets Pharmacy Minister Andrea Leadsom
  • December Nick Kaye, chair, goes to No 10 Downing Street to talk about challenges facing the sector
  • January: Paul Rees appears on seminal ITV Tonight expose of the crisis facing community pharmacy
  • January: Paul Rees, Nick Kaye, Sukhi Basra and vice chair Olivier Pickard appear on national TV and radio to highlight the challenges facing sector as Pharmacy First is launched
  • January: Paul Rees meets Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting
  • February: Sunday Mirror runs whole page article, generated by NPA, on the crisis in the sector
  • February: Nick Kaye appears on BBC Radio 4 Today programme
  • February: Nick Kaye holds further talks at No 10 Downing Street
  • March: Paul Rees interviewed by Health Select Committee Chair Steve Brine MP for this Prevention is thew new cure podcast

 

We conduct a wide range of advocacy and lobbying activities on behalf of our members and community pharmacy. This includes meeting and briefing MPs, Peers and Ministers, making representations to the government and running campaigns. The NPA also supports its members to engage locally with their MPs.

We raise your concerns with government at every opportunity. Not only have we spoken passionately about under-funding, we have raised unfair clawbacks, medicine shortages, workforce challenges, IT problems and the growth of wider business costs in meetings with Ministers.

 

Respect, representation and real influence for you

Research: We back up your voice with hard hitting, independent research from globally respected research bodies – EY, University College London and the London School of Economics – a track record of hard-hitting evidence to win respect and demonstrate the impact of under-funding community pharmacy.

Vision: Our vision for the future is developed with our members to make a powerful case for NHS investment  – a vision recognised  by Ministers and Shadow Ministers alike

Respect: The respect in which independent community pharmacy and the NPA are held by government was shown when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched Pharmacy First at an NPA member pharmacy – Victoria Pharmacy, Westminster.

Representation: The NPA is the only community pharmacy body with formal representation at the Covid-19 public inquiry – there to make sure that your vast efforts to maintain health services during the pandemic is never forgotten.

 

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)

All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal cross-party groups in Parliament that consist of Members of both Houses. They are established and run by MPs and Peers who join together to pursue a particular topic or interest. APPGs are an effective way of bringing parliamentarians together to raise awareness of a specific subject and to highlight issues and concerns.

The NPA is a co-sponsor of the All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG) which was formed in 1999. For information about the group and its work, visit the APPG’s website. If you have any questions about the APPG, please contact the group’s secretariat by emailing contact@pharmacyappg.co.uk.

 

NPA Key Asks of Government

We are calling for a new deal for pharmacy:

  • Community pharmacy to receive 2.5% of the NHS budget
  • A moratorium on clawbacks until a new contract and funding model are delivered
  • Year-on-year inflation linked increases guaranteed
  • A new contract based on payments for dispensing, clinical services, de-prescribing, prevention and social prescribing
  • An end to being seen as second-class in the NHS, and a route through which to squeeze out cost, when other clinicians are treated with respect and as clinical experts, and
  • An end to community pharmacy closures.

 

Minister for Vaccines and Public Health Maggie Throup MP visiting NPA member Wilsons Pharmacy’

Minister for Vaccines and Public Health Maggie Throup MP visiting NPA member Wilsons Pharmacy

  

 

 

Engaging with your local MP

A highly effective way to gain political support for our sector and put pressure on the government is for pharmacies to engage with their local MPs. There are a number of ways for MPs to raise issues in Parliament on behalf of constituents.

We have developed a template letter to MPs for NPA members to use to contact their local MP. This template letter can be edited and tailored depending on your specific asks and messages. Find out who your local MP is and how to contact them by visiting the UK Parliament website. 

If you have any questions, please contact us by emailing independentsvoice@npa.co.uk.