Key Summary
- NPA is looking for a real-term increase in NHS funding for pharmacy.
- It wants the government reform the pharmacy contract to give pharmacies much-needed certainty about funding for NHS medicines.
- It called for an end to the unfair system of clawbacks.
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has said that the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations should start at the earliest and called for concrete measures to bridge the funding gap.
NPA chief executive Henry Gregg said, "Consultations on funding for 2026 need to start.
"Ministers must get round the table and put pharmacies in a financial position to help deliver the transformation of local NHS services they – and we - want to see.
"We’re clear that anything less than an 8.9 percent increase will be a real terms cut, jeopardising patient care and risking further closures.
"We want to see concrete progress towards closing the funding gap and real strides towards new services and independent prescribing – both outside funding for medicines.
Gregg was responding to the roadmap put forth by Community Pharmacy England (CPE).
CPE CEO Janet Morrison had recently written a letter to pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock, calling for a credible, long-term recovery plan for community pharmacies.
“Businesses are losing money and accumulating debt, and operationally, pharmacies are struggling to cope with the ongoing demand from patients and the public. Pharmacy closures are continuing - including in our most deprived areas - and we have also seen a reduction in the number of collective pharmacy opening hours,” the letter stated.
As part of a 2026–7 CPCF settlement, the NPA is looking for a real-term increase in NHS funding for pharmacy – covering the increase in costs and activity, and a commitment to closing the funding gap identified by the NHS-commissioned independent economic analysis.
Commitment to invest in community pharmacy clinical services to deliver Government's ambitions to move care into communities with prescribing services embedded as a nationally commissioned part of the pharmacy contract.
The NPA wants the government reform the pharmacy contract to give pharmacies much-needed certainty about funding for NHS medicines and services and to end the unfair system of clawbacks.
