Key Summary
- Underfunding is reducing access and causing pharmacy closures
- Primary care’s budget share has fallen, making services harder to deliver
- CPE backs allowing pharmacists to make safe substitutions to ease shortages
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has told a parliamentary committee that underinvestment in the sector was affecting accessibility of community pharmacies to patients.
CPE director of research and insights Dr James Davies mentioned this while giving oral evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group (APHG) on Wednesday (19).
James provided evidence of the detrimental impact that years of underinvestment in the sector are having.
Representatives from the Association of Optometrists, the British Dental Association, and the British Medical Association also appeared at the APHG inquiry session.
James and other witnesses also highlighted a sustained trend of pharmacy closures, with the rural and deprived areas being the worst hit.
The APHG’s inquiry aims to create coordinated policies that guarantee fair, efficient and sustainable access to primary care services.
The representative also cited Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS in England, which showed that primary care’s share of NHS spending has fallen, while hospital budgets have increased.
The APHG heard how this underfunding is making it challenging for primary care to provide the shifts required to fulfil the Government’s healthcare ambitions.
The session discussed various measures to strengthen community pharmacy and primary care via lower-pressure, enhanced coordination, and system integration.
To help address the supply issues that are affecting access to medications, James outlined Community Pharmacy England’s support for allowing pharmacists to make safe substitutions when medicines are unavailable.
James said, “There is a potential for closer working to align patient pathways and provide better outcomes, such as that seen through Pharmacy First.”
