Fostering a united voice

We continue to take a collaborative approach to influencing. We initiated and worked on the ‘Save our Pharmacies’ campaign with the other national pharmacy bodies. This included a patient petition which attracted close to 100,000 signatures. A3 posters were also sent to pharmacies across the country, as well as other digital and social media resources. Next steps for the campaign are being considered by the national pharmacy bodies.

We also expanded our work with the other primary care professions as we believe that all of primary care needs prioritisation and additional investment, not just a rearrangement of the deckchairs. And we continue to provide financial support for the Pharmacy All-Party Parliamentary Group which also held several events throughout the past year.

We are proud to have strengthened relationships with the network of 58 local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) throughout the country, helping to better coordinate local and national influencing for community pharmacy. We hold regular fortnightly meetings with LPC representatives, to not only provide updates on pressing issues, but also to facilitate shared learning and promote best practice amongst the wider networks. We also host an LPC conference annually to bring local community pharmacy leaders together for more in-depth discussions.

CPCF Funding for Years 4 and 5

In spring 2022 we commenced negotiations on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) for 2022/23 and 2023/24. As part of this we put in a detailed funding bid (outlining the many inflationary and other cost rises that pharmacies were facing) alongside a bid for a fully-funded Pharmacy First service. 

Critically, in these negotiations we secured an extension of the Transitional Payment to recognise ongoing financial pressures, and a one-off £100 million excess margin write-off. This hard-won margin concession meant Drug Tariff prices remained higher and prevented pharmacy owners from having to pay back a significant sum to the Government, which simply would not have been affordable.

The deal also included commitments to commission an independent economic review of community pharmacy businesses – which should help to show the scope and scale of the unsustainable pressures on pharmacies - and to review the implementation of the Price Concession system to make improvements for pharmacy. 

Funding crisis deepens

By February 2023, the tough winter period had taken a toll on pharmacies with the worsening economic pressures now being exacerbated by spiralling workforce costs, dispensing at a loss, inflation and rising demand from patients. In reviewing proposals from DHSC and NHS England on price concessions and relief measures, our Committee rejected both as being insufficient to meet the sector’s needs.

This was swiftly followed by our warning that Year 5 CPCF services could not go ahead without a funding uplift. 

Our influencing programme made good headway with Ministers and other decision-makers. And we were clear that without an urgent injection of funds into the sector, any development of the role of community pharmacy would be a pipedream. Our 2023 Pressures Survey confirmed the worsening situation for community pharmacies, with 96% of pharmacy owners reporting that their operating costs had continued to rise and more than three-quarters were extremely concerned about their business’ finances.

We publicly shared documents detailing our latest funding analysis and proposed regulatory easements that had previously been submitted to NHS England and DHSC. We urged policymakers to prioritise supporting community pharmacies and to introduce a fully-funded Pharmacy First scheme for enhanced patient care, and much-needed funding for the work that many pharmacy teams are already doing.

 Our unrelenting campaigning work – both in public and behind closed doors in negotiations and wider discussions - continued, and shortly after the financial year-end, on 9th May 2023, the Government and NHS committed to a record £645 million investment into community pharmacy - the biggest investment in pharmacies for many years. The final outcome of this is subject to negotiations with the Government and NHS.

Changing for the better

Delivering on the mandate for change from pharmacy owners.

Following the publication of the independent review into PSNC (as we were called at the time) and LPCs, the Review Steering Group (RSG), established by PSNC in discussions with LPCs, worked to assess the feasibility of the recommendations and propose a path to change for PSNC and LPCs as representatives of pharmacy owners both nationally
and locally. 

In April 2022 the RSG published its proposals for change, and in June 2022 it announced that the thresholds for its contactor vote on the future of PSNC and the LPCs had
been met. 

Other Committee and Governance highlights

In September 2022 the Committee progressed work to enhance its negotiating capacity, strengthen its governance, develop plans for a new vision and strategy for the sector, and more, in line with the TAPR work programme.

Committee Members considered and voted on improvements to our Constitution and to reduce the Committee size to have a more effective structure, including consolidating PSNC regions to more closely align with the NHS.

Between January and March 2023 elections were held to appoint a new committee for a term of office between 2023-2027. This included new independent and multiple representatives to govern the work of the organisation on behalf of pharmacy owners, providing leadership and vision, and representing views of pharmacy owners and LPCs in England.

Steps were also taken to increase our influencing capacity, with the appointment of a political campaigning agency following a tender process. This work began to support the case for increasing in funding, a common conditions service, while also putting community pharmacy in a stronger position ahead of future Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations.

LPC changes

Our Director of LPC and Member Support worked with LPCs and pharmacy owners in implementing LPC proposals to increase the efficiency and outcomes across the network of LPCs in England. This included the provision of specialist hands-on guidance,  facilitating support for LPC members and officers, to promote implementation of the RSG proposals, best practice and challenging the status quo. 

We spent much of 2022/23 supporting the network of LPCs to undergo the changes, through the provision of a new model constitution, three transformation toolkits and the commissioning of standardised employment policies, procedures and advice.