On Sunday April 6th over 200 owners of community pharmacies and other related partners gathered to hear and share their current mood, experiences and plans. Some were already embracing disruptive innovation to drive their business forward, others wanted to learn how they must adapt and adopt new ways of working knowing that doing nothing is not an option.
The conference heard from Shailesh Solanki, Executive Editor at Pharmacy Business, that whilst the recently announced contractual settlement was welcomed, it will not be enough to fill the gap to sustain the sector as is reflected in the drop in contractor numbers below 10,000.
Wordcloud at the start of the Pharmacy Business Conference 2025 expressed the concerns of community pharmacists about their current situation and future
Reena Barai, conference chair, set the scene with a personal story about the challenges she faces running her own pharmacy, one which resonated with delegates who were asked to share their current mood through a word cloud. This clearly expressed their concerns about their current situation and future.
The secretary of state for health, Wes Streeting, had recorded an exclusive video for the conference in which he set out the government’s position on how they value the role of community pharmacy within the NHS. This is “a reset of our relationship” and “how can pharmacy support the ambition to move from treatment to prevention and hospital to community”. Whilst constricted by current funding limitations, he sees the settlement for 2025/26 as a first step towards achieving a sustainable sector.
Wes Streeting addressing Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
The opening keynote was from the chief pharmaceutical officer for England, David Webb, who outlined the NHS’s vision for community pharmacy with some detail on the contractual agreement. He discussed how independent prescribing and developments in education and training for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be a platform on which to build future clinical services.
The first panel session was on advances in digital health and technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and how this is revolutionising the way pharmacies can operate, engage patients and support service delivery. Yasmin Karsan, Pritee Panchmatia and Fin McCaul inspired the audience with their experiences in implementing digital tools and new technologies to improve efficiencies, safety and patient experience. This included how AI can largely automate notetaking within clinical consultations, streamlining and integrating processes. Fin said that “this is not about buying a new shiny box”. Yasmin built on that: “its about how you use the shiny box”
Yasmin Karsan, Pritee Panchmatia and Fin McCaul at Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
Business decisions should be informed by the right data. The presentation by Adele Curran from Real World Analytics highlighted the need to join the dots between the many sources of information, transforming data into insights and exceptions.
For many years, the conference has raised the importance of developing and delivering clinical services. Understanding what must be in place to develop and deliver these safely and profitably with a high-quality patient experience is key to success. The interactive panel session heard about a new model for pharmacy from Rachna Chhatralia, Patricia Tigenoah-Ojo, Baba Akomolafe and Raj Matharu who are pushing the boundaries in service development and implementation, both NHS and private. Baba’s enlightening quote was “The NHS won’t fix us, we need to fix ourselves”.
David Webb,, chief pharmaceutical officer for England, speaking at Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
Wole Ososami from Westbury Chemist in Streatham inspired the conference with his passionate talk. Wole was the deserved winner of the 2024 Pharmacy Business of the Year award and spoke passionately about his team, his pharmacy and his plans. He has doubled the size of his pharmacy, now with four connected units and an extensive portfolio of services. “We must be brave and lead with courage” he said, “We must try new services, test new technologies, develop new knowledge and skills and empower our teams.”
A key pillar of growing a pharmacy business is consumer healthcare, something that has often been neglected, particularly the USP of P-medicines for self-care. Michelle Riddalls, CEO at the PAGB, presented on its role in pharmacy’s future and what they are doing together with their member organisations to support this through their self-care strategies, reclassification and thought leadership. There has been significant growth in the OTC market with women’s health, pain management, oral health, vitamins and minerals, and skin treatments leading future growth potential.
Reena Barai, Pharmacy Business Conference 2025 chair
One important element that must underpin driving the pharmacy business forward is having the right people with the right skills doing the right things. The panel of leaders and advocates in this area included Nicola Stockmann from APTUK, Robert Townsend and Atul Patel (both IPs) and moderated by Amerjit Singh from Sharoe Green Pharmacy and Skills4Pharmacy. Nicola spoke of the opportunity of utilising the extended roles that a Pharmacy Technician can now perform - “we must not pull up the ladder behind us.” Robert and Atul related stories of the difference they have made to patients utilising their IP knowledge and qualification. Amerjit summed up by saying “It is incumbent on us to leave this profession in a better place than we found it.”
Our final keynote presentation was from Janet Morrison, CEO of Community Pharmacy England, who updated conference on the headlines from the contractual framework negotiations and how this fits with the NHS 10-year plan. Janet spoke of “negotiations starting before they enter the room” and “selling the opportunities and clinical solutions that community pharmacy could offer the NHS”. She acknowledged the significant challenges that contractors, including CPE’s committee members, are facing clearly demonstrated by the black hole in the Independent Economic review.
Janet Morrison speaking at Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
Janet then openly answered some tough questions from delegates covering the fact that there was no money to fund any expansion of Pharmacy First at this stage, the next steps being dependent on the government’s spending review and the NHS Plan, and the reasoning behind changes to DSP service provision.
The conference closed with a panel of pharmacy leaders who reflected on the day and questions from the audience. This panel included Sadik Al-Hassan MP; Nick Kaye, Chair of NPA; Harry McQuillan, Chairman of Numark; Shilpa Shah, CEO of CPNEL; and was moderated by Reena Barai. They acknowledged that there is still a funding gap but that CPE had got everything they could out of the negotiations in the current economic climate. They encouraged everyone to maximise the opportunities within the contract, stop doing services for free, and reflected on the changes that the abolishment of NHS England may bring both positively and negatively. Harry wanted everyone to “embrace independent prescribing as a gamechanger.” Sadik said “pharmacy needs to write its own future; if not someone will decide it for you and that will not work best for pharmacy.”
Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
In summing up, Reena Barai reflected on the day and how this had positively impacted on her own mindset. This was echoed by delegates when we revisited the word cloud which showed that whilst challenges remain, there was a significant shift to optimism and opportunity.
Innovation is about the use of new ideas and methods, doing something different or better for an improved outcome and the conference heard many examples of this. What it does require is spending some quality time working on your business, not just in it, looking through a different lens at why and how you do what you do, and implementing the required changes through a comprehensive business plan.
Wordcloud at the close of the Pharmacy Business Conference 2025
Recordings of the sessions will be available on the Pharmacy Business Conference website.
