Pharmacy owners asked to share their views on new CPCF arrangements

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is urging pharmacy owners to share their views on the new Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) funding settlement ahead of its next full Committee meeting, scheduled for 30 April–1 May.

The Committee said it had agreed to the settlement "reluctantly," acknowledging that it represents a significant shift after years of real-terms funding cuts, while admitting that it’s “still not sufficient to match the continued scale of pressures facing pharmacy businesses.”

To ensure that its discussions continue to be shaped by the views and shared experiences of pharmacy owners, the Committee is inviting them to take part in its latest opinion poll.

“Your feedback will help the Committee discuss how the new settlement is being felt across the sector,” it said.

“We want to know whether it helps ease financial pressures, supports investment in staff, services or premises, and how serious the ongoing challenges still are for your pharmacy.”

Pharmacy owners are also asked to share whether they have already had to stop – or expect to stop – providing any aspects of their business this year, and what they think should be the next priority for Government and Community Pharmacy England.

Owners can input directly into the Committee’s discussions by completing the Committee Opinion Poll (for independent and non-CCA multiples only).

The survey will close at 11.59pm on Wednesday 30^th April 2025 to allow time for the Committee to review responses before its meeting.

Alongside the poll, CPE is continuing its programme of in-person and online engagement events, giving pharmacy owners an opportunity to discuss the deal directly and access the latest resources.

The final event will take place in London on Saturday 26 April.

Findings from the poll and engagement events will be used to support the Committee’s wider influencing work, pressing for further improvements and support for community pharmacies.

The new settlement increases baseline annual CPCF funding for 2025/26 to £3.073 billion, alongside securing an additional £215 million to support the ongoing delivery of Pharmacy First and other Primary Care Recovery Plan services.

It also includes the write-off of £193 million in historic margin overspend and a commitment to reviewing the distribution of margin across the sector.

Taken together, these measures represent a more than 30% uplift in funding for the community pharmacy sector compared to 2023/24.

Speaking at the recent Pharmacy Business Conference, CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said that it was a tough decision to accept the deal as the uplift was not enough to fully stabilise the sector, as evidenced by the Economic Analysis.

“We took a lot of time considering what would be the consequences of saying no, and the committee thought long and hard of this,” she said.

“If we said no, there was no guarantee that we would retain the quantum of funding that is now on the table for 25/26. It would pretty certainly have delayed any funding being decided and it was pretty clear that the allocations that we'd argued for wouldn't necessarily be guaranteed.”

Community pharmacy received the largest uplift in funding across the whole of the NHS, recognising the key role they will play in future healthcare.