Pharmacists fear they can’t cope with 10-year NHS plan without funding boost

The Government’s plans for pharmacies to play a “vital role” in its Neighbourhood Health Service could be hindered by funding obstacles, pharmacists have warned.

Labour has launched its 10-year health plan yesterday, which includes proposals to transition community pharmacy from being focused largely on dispensing medicines to offering more clinical services and playing a greater role in the management of long-term conditions.

While pharmacists have welcomed the opportunity to offer better, more joined-up care, they have cautioned that the Government’s plan can only become a reality with sustainable funding.

One pharmacist told The i Paper that rents charged to pharmacy owners whose businesses are situated within NHS health centres could impede community pharmacies who want to operate in such spaces.

Thorrun Govind, a pharmacist and former chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “You already have pharmacies located in health centres. Some of these health centres have extortionately high rent, so that’s become a barrier.”

Analysis by C+D found that rent charged by the National Health Service landlord, NHS Property Services (NHSPS) increased almost a quarter over four years, with some rents rising 23 per cent from around £109,700 in 2020 to almost £134,500 in 2024.

Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: “The development of each new service needs to be carefully managed given the sector’s current capacity and tight finances.”

She warned that before this plan can become a reality, the Government must “deliver on its commitment to build the sustainable funding model that community pharmacy so desperately needs”.

“The millions of people relying on them every day don’t want to lose their local pharmacies to financial collapse, which is something the Government should carefully consider as it seeks to implement its plan,” she said.

CPE, which represents the more than 10,000 community pharmacies in England, is keen to start discussing the practicalities of the Government’s plans as soon as possible, Ms Morrison said.

New health centres, open 12 hours a day, six days a week, will house neighbourhood teams, the Government has said.

Ms Govind said she hopes the Government is not simply “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”, engaging in trivial tasks and rhetoric in the face of an ongoing NHS crisis, given “most people are already a 20-minute walk away from their local pharmacy”.

“What they need to do is make sure they’re making good use of existing resources and supporting those existing resources to thrive, rather than reorganising things,” she said.

“There’s no point duplicating work. It has got to be about more streamlined services. Any changes need to be in the best interests of the patient, not about rearranging for rearranging’s sake.”

Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said it is important that pharmacies, which already work day in day out to bring care closer to people, are placed at the heart of these plans.

Mr Gregg said: “We’ll need to work closely with the Government on the rollout of physical neighbourhood health centres so they integrate closely and do not duplicate the services that pharmacies already offer in people’s neighbourhoods.

“There’s still much to be understood about how neighbourhood health centres will work in practice.”

But he added that they do offer a lot of potential opportunities for pharmacies, “who like many others in the NHS find the lack of joined up work between different parts of the health system deeply frustrating”.

The Government has announced pharmacies will be included in the NHS rollout of weight-loss jabs, with Sir Keir Starmer saying “innovative weight-loss services – available in pharmacies” form part of the plan to transform the country’s healthcare.

Mr Gregg said pharmacies are best placed to help roll this treatment out on the NHS, with the right funding support.

He added: “Pharmacies have faced immense financial pressures in recent years, which have continued despite recent uplifts and it’s important that any new role they take on they are fully funded for.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “After years of neglect, we inherited a pharmacy sector on the brink of collapse – and delivered a 19 per cent uplift to contract funding across 24/25 and 25/26.

“As we deliver our Plan for Change and make our NHS fit for the future, pharmacies will play a crucial role in getting people get the care they need close to home.”