CPCF changes and future planning the focus of June Committee Meeting
Community Pharmacy England met in Liverpool, with Members considering the current political context and pressures exerting on the sector, as well as implementation of the agreed changes to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF).
During the meeting on 25th and 26th June 2025, updates were provided on critical economic projects and ongoing work around medicines supply and margin which fed into considerations around potential responses to the NHS 10-Year Health Plan and priorities ahead of the next CPCF negotiations. This thinking will be augmented by engagement with the sector during our programme of summer regional events where we will be asking pharmacy owners to input to our objectives for future negotiations.
Work has been continuing with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to implement agreed changes to services and explore ways to move forward on some of the commitments made. Efforts are being made to release information as early as possible to allow pharmacy teams to prepare, such as through the publication of draft versions of the new Pharmacy Contraception Service paperwork on the NHSBSA website.
PA Consulting, an independent consultancy with extensive experience working across Government, shared progress on the three projects around investment levels, margin reforms and funding models that they’ve been working on with our policy teams. The Committee also heard an update on a project to explore pharmacist flexibility around dispensing, noting the relevant recommendation from the Health and Social Care Select Committee Inquiry into Pharmacy.
As is our usual practice, we carried out a ‘Lessons Learned’ exercise on the negotiations, with Committee Members contributing thoughts and views to inform planning. Members then discussed independent insights on the recent Spending Review and the pressures on the NHS settlement as well as some of the emerging themes of the NHS 10-Year Health Plan, including ICB changes, integrated neighbourhood teams and technology. The Committee explored what these meant for Community Pharmacy England’s messaging and our goals for achieving a sustainable funding and operating model for the sector, and first thoughts on preparations for the next round of negotiations.
LPC leaders from the North West region attended part of the meeting to talk with Committee Members, observe subcommittee meetings and provide feedback from local pharmacy owners.
Read more in the full meeting summary:
Briefing 014/25: Summary of June 2025 Committee Meeting
Commenting on this week’s meetings, Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said:
“The Committee met during a particularly critical period of work with DHSC and NHS England to implement agreed changes to services and explore ways to move forward on some of the commitments made in the CPCF settlement. The team have been keeping up the momentum to provide pharmacy owners with information and paperwork as early as possible to aid their planning and preparation.
“In terms of our own planning, we have been using specialists who speak Government’s language to explore the sector’s challenges in-depth and recommend ways forward on critical issues such as funding models, margin and medicines supply. Committee Members also took time to reflect on recent negotiations and the previous relationship building with the new Government and how these lessons could help us achieve better outcomes in future.
“Our most pressing tasks following the meeting will be responding to the greatly anticipated NHS 10-Year Plan and exploring priorities for next CPCF negotiations, which will be augmented by our sector workshops over the summer. Those events will be crucial for shaping the messages we take to policymakers.”
