Kinnock non-committal on contract negotiations

Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has refused to confirm when negotiations for the 2026/27 funding contract will commence.

Following a six-week consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE), the government announced on March 31^st that it had approved a record £3.073 billion funding package for 2025/26, along with an additional £215 million to support Pharmacy First and other Primary Care Recovery Plan services.

However, However, findings of an economic independent review showed that “there is a still a significant gap between the cost of delivering NHS community pharmacy services and what pharmacies will be paid.”

The new contract was still £2.5 billion short of the total amount the economic analysis commissioned by NHS England believed was needed for pharmacies to provide services to the public. It is hoped that the next contract will address this gap in funding.

However, when questioned in parliament when negotiations will begin, Kinnock said: “The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.”

Speaking to Pharmacy Business earlier this year, Kinnock stressed he was a champion of community pharmacy and was keen to see it build its importance to primary care by providing more services.

“I feel strongly that pharmacy first has huge potential, but I think it hasn't realized its full potential because we've had to learn through its implementation, what has worked and what hasn't worked so well,” Kinnock said.

“We're a government that takes decisions and makes policy on the basis of evidence. We have gathered the evidence, we've looked at the challenges, and we've spoken with the sector.”

“We've got the feedback on what we need to do to incentivize pharmacists on Pharmacy First and how we can also give them the space to do that,” he said.