Community Pharmacy England hosts LPCs for negotiation training

Community Pharmacy England has today hosted representatives of 35 Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) for in-person negotiation training with the independent consultancy, PA Consulting.

PA Consulting has extensive experience working across Government and advising on policy making and investment strategy. During 2024/25 they ran a series of negotiation training sessions for Community Pharmacy England committee members and executive team, which were extremely valuable and we wanted to extend the offer to all LPCs, as part of our work to see community pharmacies sustainably funded, supported and empowered to operate at their maximum potential.

The session was shaped for LPC Chief Officers, including a focus on the local NHS and Local Government to recognise their important role in negotiating pharmacy services with local commissioners, among others, and the challenges that this brings especially at a time of heightened financial pressure across many local systems.

We work closely with the network of 54 LPCs in England to support their role as the local NHS representative organisations and help us to meet our goals and to promote the value of community pharmacy. This training is just one of many areas of support that Community Pharmacy England offers to LPCs, such as support for local service development, public affairs and local policy help, guidance on running LPCs, networking opportunities and peer support.

James Wood, Director of Member and LPC Support at Community Pharmacy England said:

It was great to invite all LPCs to our office for this negotiation training session that was run by experts from PA Consulting. I know from many conversations throughout the day that LPC representatives found the session extremely helpful to reflect on tactics and relationships.

LPCs are well versed in negotiating as part of their work and I hope it will help them build on local approaches and to enhance their capabilities even further. We are looking forward to holding a further session in February aimed at LPC Committee members.