Parliamentarians continue to voice their support for pharmacies

Following on from much Parliamentary activity before Christmas, such as the debate on pharmacy funding in the South West and the Health secretary’s appearance before the Health Committee, MPs are continuing to highlight the serious challenges pharmacies face and to call for support for the sector.

Debate on NHS backlogs

On Monday, in a debate tabled by Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP, MPs debated NHS backlogs.

Helen raised the issue of National Insurance contributions, stating that alongside the cost to GP surgeries, the hike will also ‘hammer’ pharmacies, with ‘more than a third of pharmacy owners now worried that their business may not survive the winter’. She argued that if pharmacies were to close, backlogs would increase elsewhere, and said that if the Government can keep pharmacies open and improve services such as Pharmacy First, pressure on the system will be reduced.

She called on the Government ‘to commit to removing the increase in employer national insurance contributions to support these crucial community services, so that fewer people end up in hospital and more people are treated in the community, where they will get better and quicker treatment.’

Gregory Stafford, Conservative MP for Farnham and Bordon, called Pharmacy First ‘a superb programme’. He said that while this Government clearly want to go further with the initiative, there are ‘disincentives’ for GPs to embrace Pharmacy First.

He asked the Government to ensure that there are no financial disincentives to working with pharmacies, reiterating that if the Government is to deal with the NHS backlog, there must be be aligned financial incentives for healthcare professionals and institutions.

Health questions

On Tuesday, in the regular department health questions, Tristan Osborne, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, asked the Government whether it would consider an expansion of Pharmacy First to include further access to medicines, including those to treat common dental conditions. In response, the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock MP, responded that the Government is making it a priority to resume consultations with the sector to stabilise community pharmacy. He also stated that the NHS will continue to keep the conditions treated by Pharmacy First under review.

House of Lords debate

In a debate on National Insurance contributions, many Peers spoke to put on record their concern regarding the impact that these increases would have on pharmacies.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe quoted Community Pharmacy England analysis that these proposed measures would mean that pharmacies ‘will be hit by an extra £50 million a year’.

Lord Scriven, who also quoted our analysis, urged the government to rethink the decision and ‘make an exemption from this hike for vital health and care providers, and not burden GPs, dentists, community pharmacists, hospices and care providers with higher costs that some will find impossible to fund’.

Lord Jackson of Peterborough quoted Community Pharmacy England impact analysis on proposed National Minimum Wage increases, in addition to increases in employer national insurance. He said this would mean pharmacies having ‘to find an extra £200 million a year in mitigation as a result of this policy…what we see is essentially a crisis in the community pharmacy sector.’

Prime Minister’s question on pharmacy

On Wednesday, Marie Goldman, Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, drew attention to the issue of dispensing at a loss. She said she had visited a pharmacy owner in her constituency who is ‘sometimes forced to pay over 100 times more’ for medicine than the contract reimburses. She asked the Prime Minister whether he agreed that ‘no pharmacy should be forced to use their own money to keep their pharmacy viable’.

The full exchange can be watched below.

Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England said:

“It is encouraging to see just how much support there is for community pharmacies across both Houses in Parliament. The concern from MPs and Peers across the political spectrum reflects the impossible situation that pharmacies are in as we begin this new year: we need urgent action from Government and the NHS to stabilise the network.”

The following clip is from the session of Prime Minister’s Questions that took place on 8th January 2025.