A team from National Pharmacy Association (NPA), comprising Director of External and Corporate Affairs Gareth Jones and his colleagues Jill Loader and Neil Bhayani, recently held a meeting with the Treasury officials to highlight the pressing issues faced by the community pharmacy sector.
In a LinkedIn post, Jones said: "Whilst recent uplifts in funding are welcome and have made a difference, we were highlighting the need for further significant new funding for community pharmacy to meet the gap which still exists and means that some neighbourhoods are still at risk of losing their local pharmacy."
The team also pushed for a relief from business rates for community pharmacy, something that the GP practices and dental surgeries already enjoy.
They can get their business rates reimbursed from the NHS.
On the other hand, the government had recently provided exemption to pubs to help them remain sustainable.
"If government can find new money to give rate relief to pubs, whilst offering long-standing exemptions to GPs – why should community pharmacy, with its key role in the heart of communities, not get equivalent support?" Jones argued.
Payment models
The NPA team also shared the research on international pharmacy payment models. They shared the research undertaken by Jill Loader, along with other international pharmacy organisations World Pharmacy Council and Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU).
The team also highlighted the opportunities to improve the management of repeat medicines by commissioning community pharmacy to expand its role in this area and relieve pressure on other parts of the system.
"We reflected on how community pharmacy can help tackle the challenges outlined in the Mayfield Review on ill-health and disability resulting in people not working. This review concluded that economic inactivity results in a loss of £150bn of productive capacity."
The team pointed out that even a small reduction, through employers working with local pharmacies to improve the health of their staff, could bring in billions of pounds into the economy.
