Share your opinions on Pharmacy First thresholds: Pharmacy Owner Views Sought
THIS CONTENT HAS NOW EXPIRED
Community pharmacy owners are being asked to share information and views about increasing Pharmacy First thresholds, as well as the impact of GP action, ahead of the next full Community Pharmacy England Committee meeting in September.
Many pharmacies may struggle to meet scheduled increases in the threshold for the monthly Pharmacy First payment and pharmacy owners are already considering what to do if they begin to fail to pass the threshold. Following representations by Community Pharmacy England Ministers agreed to make an adjustment for August. We are continuing to work with DHSC and NHS England to review ongoing service data and consider its implications for the planned ramp up in thresholds for September and October.
In September, Committee Members will discuss urgent items such as the 2024/25 negotiations, working with the new Government and our ongoing approach. A key point of note will also be the impact of GP work-to-rule action on community pharmacies. In the short-term we are pushing for formal Pharmacy First referrals to be promoted to practices as an alternative where patients cannot access GP appointments. However, we are also concerned that pharmacies could be overwhelmed with displaced and unfunded patients, if practices just signpost patients to pharmacies, at a time when capacity is so stretched. Read our advice on maintaining a safe pharmacy service during the GP action.
For this meeting, we are keen to hear how you are feeling about the increases in the Pharmacy First monthly payment threshold, and the effects of the GP collective action on your pharmacy. We are also continuing to track the intensity of various financial pressures on your pharmacies. Your views will help inform our ongoing discussions and negotiations.
You can directly input into the Committee’s discussions via this short poll:
September 2024 Committee Opinion Poll (for independent and non-CCA multiples only)
View a copy of the poll questions
The survey will close at 11.59pm on Monday 26th August to allow time for Committee Members to review all the feedback ahead of their meeting. Note, this survey is for community pharmacy owners only and CCA multiple branches do not need to respond as the survey is being sent to their head offices.
As well as being discussed at September’s Committee Meeting, your answers will be fed into our ongoing work to press for an uplift to core funding and used to raise awareness of the immense pressures on pharmacies through our influencing work, e.g. the recent national media coverage on pharmacies being forced to halt services. The results and outcomes will also be reported back to the sector.
We hope that as many of you as possible will share your thoughts with us ahead of our upcoming meeting – this is your chance to feed directly into the Committee.
You can see the results from the previous opinion polls in the links below:
