Key Summary
- She said the CPE and other primary care negotiating bodies were 'getting gloomy' about the allocation of resources for them
- National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg wanted pharmacy bodies to put up a united front
- Pharmacists' Defence Association director Jay Badenhorst said workforce representatives were being excluded by the NHS from sector discussions
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison has said the talks with the government were ongoing and the pharmacy negotiators have made it clear that they cannot keep commissioning services without new funding available.
During a session at the Pharmacy Show in Birmingham, Morrison said that she had expected negotiations for the ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework’ for 2026/2027 to begin in September 2025, but it has been put off and may commence in November.
She also claimed that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) does not have a mandate yet as to how much money it could allocate to community pharmacy, and said the CPE, as well as other primary care negotiating bodies, were 'getting gloomy' about the allocation of resources for them.
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Henry Gregg decried the infighting within various pharmacy bodies and said it was a 'waste of bandwidth' and time.
He wanted the pharmacy bodies to avoid airing their differences in public and put up a united front while fighting for their issues.
Gregg noted that ever since he took over as NPA chief, he has reached out to all the pharmacy bodies to encourage more collaboration.
He listed out three priorities for the NPA next year: campaign, support, and connect.
The campaigning element will involve closing the funding gap faced by the community pharmacies.
He expressed concern over the personal sacrifices being made by various pharmacy owners to deliver a ‘crucial NHS service’.
Gregg said the NPA is going to support pharmacists through insurance, legal advice, and training.
And it wants to connect pharmacists, by relaunching a WhatsApp group where they can talk to peers, get advice about best practice and ask questions.
While fielding questions from the audience, he was asked about the inconvenience faced by the people due to the arbitrary closure of pharmacy outlets run by the Jhoots group.
He said he was “very concerned” and felt that Jhoots’ failure to supply medicines to patients had put pressure on other pharmacists.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association director of pharmacy Jay Badenhorst said during a panel session that NHS England has not delivered on an offer it made last year to consider including pharmacy workforce representatives in its sector discussions.
He said that there are "strategic gaps" in how the sector's future is decided, with the exclusion of workforce representatives from key negotiations was one of them.
He also stressed the importance of working with GPs and expressed unhappiness over the BMA letter that was sent out ‘in error’ last week, encouraging local GPs not to refer patients to Pharmacy First.
In another session, "Bridging the divide between GPs and pharmacists for better outcomes in primary outcomes", Baba Akomolafe, superintendent pharmacist, Christchurch Pharmacy and Clinics, and Dr Dupe Akomolafe, Director, Christchurch Health Centre, called for closer cooperation between the GPs and community pharmacies.
Baba called upon community pharmacies to collaborate and embrace digitization for better patient care and outcomes.
In another session on "How AI can be implemented in primary care and community pharmacy", Yasmin Karsan, clinical safety officer and medical consultant, Digital Clinical Safety, dwelt at length about how AI can be used to reduce the stress faced by the NHS.
She also highlighted some of the pitfalls that AI can bring and called for the need for 'guardrails' to protect them.
The two-day Pharmacy Show concluded at the NEC Birmingham on Monday (13) with exhibitors from various branches of the pharmacy sector in attendance.
Some of the big names in the pharmacy industry and many startups had set up stalls and stands on the sprawling NEC premises.
The whole area was buzzing with activity, with exhibitors trying to network with their potential clients, peer groups, and strike deals.
