Pharmacy leaders have called on contractors to "stop doing things for free" and make the most of all available services, as the new pharmacy contract fails to address the longstanding funding crisis.
Speaking at the ‘Pharmacy Leaders Panel’ during the recent Pharmacy Business Conference, Shilpa Shah, CEO of Community Pharmacy North East London, acknowledged the challenges of securing funding for community pharmacies.
“Wes Streeting was absolutely honest when he said there's just no money there, and at the moment, he has got a huge job to do to fix the NHS.”
Despite this, she described the contract as “a step in the right direction” and urged pharmacies to embrace the opportunities it offers.
“Maximise every single service that is out there, sign up to every single service, and stop doing things for free.”
“We need to make our patients understand that there are certain things that we can't do because they are not funded.”
However, she stressed the need to deliver high-quality services to “get more of those services coming in.”
Sadik Al-Hasan MP commended Janet Morrison, CEO of Community Pharmacy England (CPE), for effectively using the recent economic analysis as a negotiating tool.
He noted that small, single-owner independent pharmacies are often more economically efficient than large chains and multiples, as indicated by the economic review.
Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said that moving forward, the sector must focus on two key areas, the Spending Review and spending allocations.
“There needs to be big pushes in June and September to make sure that we are at the forefront of everybody's mind,” he added.
Why is this a good deal?
Conference Chair Reena Barai, who moderated the session, posed a challenging question to the panel: “If 78% of pharmacies are sustainable under current conditions, why is this a good deal?”
Shilpa responded: “It's going to be very difficult to ever have something that everybody's going to agree on.”
According to her, the focus now must be on “what we have,” “how we make this work,” and “how we all get behind it.”
She called for collaboration at all levels:
- Community pharmacy locals supporting pharmacies on the ground to deliver this national contract.
- Building relationships with GPs to drive referrals
- NPA helping pharmacies to stop free deliveries or looking at better ways to do these sorts of things.
- Wider cooperation across the sector—between Community Pharmacy England, the NPA, the CCA, the IPA, and others—to ensure “all are working towards the same goal” of improving outcomes for patients in local communities.
“If you do what's right for patients, within the contract that we now have for the following year, then then it can only work positively.”
Pharmacy prescribing – the next big opportunity
Sadik Al-Hasan MP acknowledged that pharmacies are “incredibly cost-effective for government” and could deliver substantial savings for the system and better patient outcomes if empowered to prescribe.
However, he stressed that the profession must lead the development of prescribing services rather than leaving it to others, as “community pharmacy can write its own future.”
“We have Pathfinder projects underway to determine how prescribing looks in practice,” he said.
“We need to decide what it is based on the outcomes of the Pathfinders because they are going to conclude our pharmacy needs to be the one that brings forward that vision.”
He warned that if pharmacies do not decide “what that looks like, someone else will decide it for us” and “we will end up with a system that doesn't work for pharmacy.”
As a cautionary example, he cited the launch of Pharmacy First, which was hastily rushed, resulting in an IT system that doesn't integrate with the rest of the NHS system.
Professor Harry McQuillan, chairman of Numark, said prescribing is the sector’s next big opportunity.
“It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he said, urging all pharmacy organisations to unite behind it.
Abolishment of NHS England - agree or disagree
Reena asked the panel members to share their thoughts on the government’s proposed abolishment of NHS England.
Shilpa expressed support for ongoing reforms aimed at reducing bureaucracy and streamlining operations within the NHS.
She agreed with Wes Streeting, who said that the challenges within NHS England and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) stem from structural issues rather than the people involved.
“There are brilliant people, both in ICBS and NHS England, but there is a lot of duplication. There is a lot of money that trickles down, and when it gets to the people on the front line, there's hardly anything left for them because it's been spent on all different things.”
“So, I think that fundamentally right what's happening and I think that it will provide a better future for those providers on the front line.”
Nick agreed that the abolition of NHS England could reduce duplication but warned it would place the department of health under direct political control.
Harry noted it could simplify CPE’s job, eliminating the need to negotiate with two bodies.
Sadik Al-Hasan described NHS England as a “pseudo-regulator” that failed to ensure consistent service delivery across different regions.
“I do think we need direct command and control instead of two select separate bodies vying for control of the one NHS,” he added.
He also emphasised the importance of recognising pharmacy not just as a negotiating body representing employers, but also as a voice for the entire workforce—including pharmacists, technicians, dispensers, and drivers.
“Having that workforce representation as part of the voice of pharmacy will help to guide where pharmacy sits in the future,” he added.
