Engaging with politicians
Published on: 12th March 2019 | Updated on: 13th September 2024
Community Pharmacy England works with politicians at a national level to champion community pharmacy and to advocate for our policy and funding asks.
We work across Government and Parliament with MPs and Peers, their advisors, civil servants and officials to drive forward the change that pharmacy needs. This includes working with Parliamentary Select Committees and the All-Party Group on Pharmacy where we can amplify pharmacy messages.
We also work with the other national pharmacy organisations to coordinate our messaging wherever possible.
In addition, we support LPCs and pharmacy owners who receive queries from politicians or have any questions about this work. And we provide a range of resources to help them to engage with politicians at a local level proactively (see below).
Anyone requiring further advice is encouraged to contact our Communications and Public Affairs Team.
For recent policy briefings, including our current key messages, please visit our page ‘Information for politicians’ here.
Resources for Pharmacy owners and LPCs
LPCs and pharmacy owners have been engaging with politicians for many years now. As critical decision makers, it is important that we continue to showcase strong engagement and support from politicians across the political spectrum. Below are a range of resources to help pharmacy owners and LPCs undertake local political activity.
MP animation
We have developed an animation to tell MPs about the issues and potential of community pharmacy. This short video has been designed as an introduction to the community pharmacy sector, communicating our key messages to MPs in a concise and engaging way.
General guidance – last updated July 2024
Guidance for hosting pharmacy visits with politicians and candidates
- We have published guidance to help with pharmacy visits or meetings with politicians.
MP briefing to leave behind following pharmacy visit
You can print this briefing out and give to an MP to take away, following their pharmacy visit.
Community Pharmacy: A Four-Point Plan
Click here for our MP Briefings
Report engagement with politicians
Media lines briefing for the pharmacy first service in England
- We created this briefing to help pharmacy owners when speaking to the media about the new ‘Pharmacy First’ service. Many of these messages are also relevant when speaking to politicians.
We periodically issue template letters for LPCs and pharmacy owners to use to contact their MPs to help with various campaigns. If you want to write out to your MPs with specific asks – e.g a request to meet or invitation to visit a pharmacy – you can tailor the templates below to help your work. Those of you who have existing relationships with MPs may not need to use these.
Following a pharmacy visit, politicians may offer to collaborate on a local press release. Those who are briefed virtually may also offer to publish a supportive statement or release for their websites or local media. A template for either of these is available below which LPCs can edit accordingly.
If you are unsure about which MPs you need to contact, you can use Parliament’s Find Your MP tool to search for MPs by postcode if you are unsure about constituency boundaries.
Press release for MPs- Flu Season (Autumn 2021)
Press Release for LPCs – Flu Season (Autumn 2021)
LPC template letter invitation to MPs (flu jab) (Autumn 2021)
Template letter to MPs – Autumn 2021 (Invitation for flu jab)
Briefing for MPs: Community Pharmacy and the NHS Long Term Plan (2019)
This briefing outlines where the NHS Long Term Plan mentioned community pharmacy. LPCs can use this during MP visits to discuss the Plan’s pledges for the sector.
Community Pharmacy: The Long Term Future of the NHS (2018)
This briefing outlines where community pharmacy can contribute to the long-term future of the NHS. It was created in collaboration with the other national pharmacy organisations ahead of the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan.
For more information on this topic please email comms.team@cpe.org.uk
