Key Summary
- A record number of price concessions for 204 medicines were announced for April.
- In March, the prices of 201 medicines were improved.
- The CPE has expressed concern over the challenges pharmacy owners and their teams face in procuring medicines.
The Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has expressed concern over a record number of price concessions (204 medicines) announced for April, with further requests still being negotiated.
This is the second consecutive month of concessions reaching record highs. In March, 201 improved prices were announced.
The CPE has termed it as a "concerning trend", reflecting fragility and instability in the medicines supply chain, which is being intensified by the ongoing Iran war.
This month CPE received thousands of reports from pharmacy owners seeking price concessions and made representations on their behalf to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
As a result of their representations, some prices have increased from those initially announced earlier in the month.
The CPE has also expressed concern over the challenges pharmacy owners and their teams face in procuring medicines.
They have become complex and time-consuming, and it is evident in the recent Pressures Survey, it added.
CPE director of research and insights James Davies said, “We have had a record number of price concessions recently, and while these indicate pricing issues rather than necessarily meaning there are medicines shortages, they show that the medicines supply chain is under increasing pressure, which is only likely to get worse in light of the conflict in the Middle East.
"This pressure is playing out in community pharmacies where teams are spending hours every day trying to get the medicines their patients need. It is also having a financial impact and the underfunding of community pharmacies continues to lead to pharmacy closures, with an average of one pharmacy closing each week in England.”
The negotiations on the arrangements for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2026/27 have not yet concluded.
