Labour Party Conference held this week

We have issued the following statement about the Labour Party Conference.

Our Chief Executive, Janet Morrison, said:

“We were pleased to hear Shadow Ministers making positive noises about community pharmacy at the Labour Party Conference this week. In particular Wes Streeting’s call for a greater role for community pharmacy aligns with the discussions we have had with him and his team in recent months.

The whole Labour Health Team seems to have a clear focus on prevention and acknowledges the critical need to shift the focus from secondary to primary care. This is in line with the recently published vision for community pharmacy which recommends placing the sector front and centre in public health strategies, with a package of extended services to make the most of pharmacies as local health and wellbeing hubs. The power of prevention is essential for the future of the NHS with investment in it long overdue: it is also a key area in which pharmacies can contribute and this gives us a real to opportunity to press for more investment in pharmacies both in the short-term and with whoever is in power after the next election.

Throughout this Conference and previously at the Conservative Conference we have been advocating for the future sustainability and potential of community pharmacy. To ensure that pharmacy was on the agenda we hosted our own community pharmacy roundtable events attended by influential MPs, patient representatives, other healthcare professionals, local Government representatives and think tanks. We have met with think tanks and other healthcare professional groups, and attended fringe and private events with a wide range of participants, including Mr Streeting and his team, to ask questions and talk about pharmacy. We also took part in an NHS Providers roundtable with senior Shadow Cabinet representatives and NHS policy makers, and attended receptions with key Labour health policy advisors.

Whilst what we heard from Labour this week was encouraging, our work to build further support for pharmacy will continue in the coming weeks as we continue with our wide-ranging influencing programme ahead of the next CPCF negotiations and General Election.”