Community pharmacies in Wales get 6% funding increase

The £9.9 million increase is intended to address “immediate pressures” facing community pharmacies while also supporting longer-term reform plans  

The Welsh government has reached an agreement with the NHS and Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW)—the statutory representative body for all community pharmacies—on a six per cent funding increase as part of the 2024/25 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF).

The £9.9 million increase will bring the total CPCF funding to £175 million per year, representing a 24 per cent rise in funding since 2017.

In a statement published on 20 December 2024, Jeremy Miles, cabinet secretary for health and social care, said that the additional investment will be used to address “both immediate pressures facing community pharmacies and to maintain momentum on our longer-term ambitions for reform.”

Miles also said that the government would continue to invest in integrating pharmacies in primary care clusters, developing the skills and scope of practice of the wider community pharmacy workforce including pharmacy technicians, and the Choose Pharmacy IT system.

In contrast, community pharmacies in England are still awaiting progress on CPCF negotiations for 2024/25.

Last month, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) warned of the sector's worsening financial situation, urging ministers to provide immediate funding relief.

In a letter to ministers, CPE chief executive Janet Morrison warned that the CPCF negotiations delay could lead to widespread pharmacy closures.

“We are now eight months into the 2024/25 financial year with no financial settlement in sight: this is disastrous from a business planning perspective, falls short of proper economic regulation, and the continuation of current underfunding is proving catastrophic for community pharmacies.”

Highlighting that more community pharmacies are falling into “debt and administration,” she cautioned that without urgent remedial action, there will not be a “community pharmacy sector left to deliver the Contractual Framework, let alone the future ambitions of the government and the NHS.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting and pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock have confirmed that CPCF negotiations for England will commence in early 2025.