All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy Chair Sadik Al-Hassan MP, has welcomed Dame Diana Johnson to her new role as the Minister with responsibility for pharmacy.
In a LinkedIn post, the North Somerset MP highlighted the pivotal position community pharmacies hold within the wider primary care framework and the Government's health reform ambitions.
He has nearly two decades of clinical experience as a community pharmacist prior to his election as an MP.
While acknowledging that recent funding measures offered a welcome step forward, he cautioned that broader structural support remains urgently needed to reverse years of financial strain across the network.
Al-Hassan said: “I know first-hand that community pharmacy has a vital role to play in delivering the Government’s ambitions for prevention, neighbourhood health and improved access to care, and this appointment is crucial to that delivery.
“While the recent funding settlement for community pharmacy was a welcome step in the right direction, this is the first step in a longer journey to secure the future of the sector and a multi-year settlement to take us back towards profitability.
“Community pharmacies continue to face significant pressures, but they also have enormous potential and are a cornerstone of delivering our ambitions for health.”
He added that he looks forward to working with Dame Diana and the wider Government to ensure pharmacy is equipped to play its full role in supporting patients, communities and the wider NHS.
