Please find our Chief Executive’s statement on the Labour Party Manifesto which pledges to, amongst other things:
- “Create a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service, granting more pharmacists independent prescribing rights where clinically appropriate”.
- move to a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’, “with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier”. And later, a vow to, over time shift resources to primary care and community services.
- move the NHS model towards a greater focus on prevention.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said: “We welcome the Labour Party Manifesto’s clear focus on moving to a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’, prevention and the return of the ‘family doctor’. Harnessing community pharmacy is crucial to delivering each of these.
We are pleased that what the Labour Party has proposed closely mirrors our views on the future of the sector.
We’ve made no secret that while the Pharmacy First service in England is already delivering for patients it has the potential to do so much more. As such, we welcome further detail on the proposal to create a ‘Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service’. Given the current financial pressures facing the sector it goes without saying that any new service must be funded appropriately.
Independent Prescribing is a generational opportunity for change – we are glad to see the party pledge to grant more independent prescribing rights to pharmacists. This must be underpinned by a robust roadmap to upskill existing pharmacists and ambitious NHS commissioning so the public can benefit from these new prescribing skills.
Whoever wins the next election must confront, head-on, the historic underfunding of the sector. A 30% real-terms cut in core funding since 20152 has led to the closure of nearly 1,200 pharmacies3.
The NHS Pharmacy First service shows what the sector is capable of – but it can only continue to do so if the next Government puts an end the austerity of pharmacy funding once and for all”.
References:
1 – CCA, CCA prospectus – A future for community pharmacy, February 2023
2 – Community Pharmacy England, Information for Politicians
3 – CCA, Record loss of 432 pharmacies over the past year, April 2024