There is ‘no clear path to the sustainable funding’ for community pharmacy, says Rebecca Smith MP

Rebecca Smith MP made an impassioned plea to the government to invest in community pharmacy after explaining the vital role her local pharmacy plays supporting residents in two villages.

Addressing the health and social care select committee on Tuesday (23), Smith, the Conservative MP for South West Devon, said community pharmacy needed ‘sustainable funding’ and reflected on the plight of her local pharmacy.

“At risk of closure is Tubb pharmacy in Newton Ferrers in my constituency, which I have raised in this place before,” said Smith.

“Pharmacist Esi Kumurdzi has been helped massively by an incredibly active community. The pharmacy supported a petition I delivered here in Parliament, and it provides essential services to the two rural villages of Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo, but it is seeking Government action in order to secure its future.”

In April, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock insisted that community pharmacy have an integral part to play in the government’s long-term plan to refocus healthcare from hospitals to the community.

Through the new NHS 10-Year Plan, the government aims to transform the NHS by shifting from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

However, whilst the pharmacy contract raised the baseline annual funding for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2025/26 to £3.073 billion, it fell short of the estimated £4.397 billion to £5.730 billion needed to provide NHS pharmaceutical services in England – according to the economic review into the sector.

The review also found that nearly half of pharmacies were not profitable in their last accounting year, and 99 per cent are funded at less than their full economic cost, rendering them unsustainable in the long run.

Smith urged Paulette Hamilton, interim chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, to ensure the government provides more funding to primary care in its efforts to move from sickness to prevention.

“While the estimates may highlight a commitment to delivering care closer to home, according to Community Pharmacy England there is still no clear path to the sustainable funding and operational model that is required by community pharmacy,” said Smith.

“It is needed by community pharmacies such as Tubb in Newton Ferrers, and it is needed by community pharmacists such as Esi. It is needed by the whole country to be able to deliver community pharmacy, Pharmacy First and, ultimately, to relieve pressure on primary care.

“I urge the Minister to provide this substantial funding for community pharmacy. I know that the Minister agrees that this work is incredibly important, and I urge her to ensure that we bring it to the fore as quickly as possible so that there can be a future for community pharmacy across the country.”