General Election campaigning begins
The Prime Minister has announced the date for the next UK General Election as 4th July 2024, and Community Pharmacy England is continuing the critical work to build supporters in readiness for the new Parliament.
An election had been expected this year and we have long been gearing up for this, warning all political parties about the risks of failing to support pharmacies and highlighting the value that community pharmacy can offer, subject to the right investment and support. Our influencing and lobbying work in recent months has included briefing numerous politicians and the health policy teams from all parties, raising awareness of core pharmacy issues in the media, and setting out clear asks for the future, including in the joint #VotePharmacy Manifesto. We also spoke with LPCs about some of our upcoming plans during our National Meeting with them yesterday.
An election campaigning period is a good time to reach out to political parties and prospective candidates to get them thinking about community pharmacies and the role they play in supporting their communities and the wider NHS. We have been contacting a wide list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, working with LPCs to arrange pharmacy visits, and are ready to brief new MPs when they take office.
Alongside this national work, we need pharmacy owners and teams to help amplify this and are asking as many of you as possible make contact with your local election candidates to make sure all parties recognise the significance of community pharmacy.
As part of our work to draw attention to pharmacy pressures, we had already been asking pharmacy owners to get in touch with their local MPs using our latest briefings for politicians and our guidance for writing to your MP to help. Now, that ask is extended to all Prospective Parliamentary Candidates. We are in the process of updating the above resources as well as our guidance on hosting visits at your pharmacy and will share that imminently.
