Independent Economic Review
Published on: 9th October 2024 | Updated on: 12th November 2024
NHS England has commissioned an independent economic analysis of NHS pharmaceutical services, to be carried out with Community Pharmacy England and pharmacy owners.
The Independent Economic Review – also referred to as an Economic Analysis of Community Pharmacy – was agreed as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) arrangements for 2022/23 and 2023/24 and follows the significant concerns Community Pharmacy England raised about the economic sustainability of the sector both through the CPCF Annual Review process and in subsequent negotiations. We believe it can help us to press Government and the NHS to follow good practice in economic regulation and to make more evidence-based funding decisions.
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Frontier Economics and IQVIA have been commissioned to carry out the economic analysis of community pharmacy on behalf of NHS England.
The project aims to gather data from pharmacy owners across the sector to answer the following key questions:
- What are the full economic costs of delivering NHS pharmaceutical services, and how do these costs vary across and within: different types of pharmacy; different mix of dispensing activity and services; and different locations?
- Are NHS community pharmacy businesses sustainable under the current funding model, including the current trajectory of the sector? To what extent are NHS services at risk of interruption?
- Which clinical services can be most efficiently delivered from community pharmacy as compared with general practice or the wider NHS?
Work began in April 2024 and final outputs are expected in early 2025. The main stages of the project are as follows:
- Setting up Advisory Board and Working Group comprised of sector and NHS England representatives to help inform the project, including determining the scope and methodology.
- ‘Bottom-up’ data collection – a small but in-depth survey of community pharmacies from a range of different business sizes and models. These initial findings will then be used to inform the most important questions to retain in the ‘top-down’ survey.
- ‘Top-down’ data collection – a much wider but less cumbersome survey to obtain as many responses as possible. A significant campaign will be launched to reach out to pharmacy owners.
- Analysing all data received and preparing the final report.
The Independent Economic Review is a hugely important, but very complex and time-consuming project.
Community Pharmacy England has been telling Government and the NHS loudly and clearly that pharmacies are no longer economically sustainable. We hope that this review will help prove that to them, and that is why our Negotiating Team pressed hard for it to be carried out independently and included as part of the agreement for CPCF Years 4 and 5.
Having been involved with this project since the NHS England tender process, we are working to ensure the review gives a fair and accurate picture of the extremely challenging economic position that all pharmacies find themselves in: this is essential to underpin any future negotiations and to inform future policy.
The project has an Advisory Board and Working Group, which includes Community Pharmacy England staff and pharmacy owners. We provided an important sense-check for Frontier Economics and IQVIA as they established the methodology for the review, and remain in close dialogue with NHS and DHSC about the process. Regular supportive and constructive feedback has been provided, whilst also laying down markers for our minimum expectations to avoid generating an incomplete picture.
Pharmacy owners are under intolerable financial pressure, and providing a robust evidence base will be of critical importance to future CPCF negotiations. NHS England’s economic review offers an opportunity to demonstrate exactly what your pharmacy businesses are going through, and potentially help shape the future of the sector.
The project is entering a new phase in its data collection and is calling all pharmacy owners to get involved. Frontier Economics estimates this will take around 15-20 minutes per pharmacy to complete and recommends that you have your most recent full-year financial accounts to hand. Any data you share will be anonymised, grouped, and will remain confidential.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Pharmacy owners now have until Monday 18th November to register their interest in participating in the study via the link below and will be sent further instructions.
Economic Analysis of Community Pharmacy – Expression of Interest
If you decide to take part, please consider your responses very carefully to make sure that you are providing full details of all of the costs involved in running your pharmacy.
If you have any questions about completing the survey, please email the dedicated helpline at EACP@iqvia.com or helpline-qh@iqvia.com or call on 0800 783 1775 (lines are open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday). Please quote the project reference: ‘Economic Analysis of Community Pharmacy’.
Those who have expressed interest in participating will also be invited to a drop-in clinic offering help or clarification on any of the questions or processes.
For more information on this topic please email funding.team@cpe.org.uk
