National Pharmacy Association
Representatives from bodies representing community pharmacy have met with pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock ahead of the start of negotiations for the next round of community pharmacy funding.
In a joint statement published after the meeting, held in London on 28 October 2025, senior figures from the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) and National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said they had urged the minister “to close the £2.6bn funding gap identified in the NHS-commissioned independent economic analysis between the costs of running a pharmacy and funding received from the NHS”, adding that “recent funding uplifts needed to be the beginning of a journey, not the end of one”.
Representatives also told the minister that “with the right support, pharmacies can help achieve the government’s ambitions in the ten-year plan to provide an expanded range of services and help shift care into the community”.
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the CCA, said the CCA’s own modelling shows how pharmacies “could help to free up 51 million primary care appointments each year”.
“Delivering change of this kind relies on investment to close the gap between the cost of providing NHS pharmaceutical care and what the NHS currently pays. For pharmacies to be able to deliver more quality clinical care and provide additional capacity in NHS primary care, the foundations must be fixed,” he added.
Henry Gregg, chief executive of the NPA, said: “We have told the government today that we’re up for working with them to deliver new services but only with a sustainable funding package that closes the funding gap identified by the NHS’s own analysis.
“We also raised with ministers the need to utilise independent prescribers or risk seeing these valuable skills leave community pharmacy.”
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the IPA, added: “A further outcome we wanted from this meeting with the minister was to ensure a united positive and realistic front from pharmacy bodies, and we have achieved that.
“We look forward to continuous dialogue with [pharmacy] minister Kinnock and his team, and we are encouraged by the fact that he is listening.”
Commenting on the meeting, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social care said: “We welcome today’s constructive meeting with the pharmacy sector — at which the [pharmacy] minister reiterated how crucial community pharmacies are to moving more care closer to patient’s homes and reducing pressure on GPs and hospitals.
“This year, we’ve already provided record funding of £617m, and we’re exploring how pharmacies can expand the services they offer — helping patients access everything from vaccinations to free contraception in their local community.
“We will continue our discussions with the sector to ensure community pharmacy has the support it needs to deliver the expanded role we know it can play in building an NHS fit for the future.”
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) met with the CCA, IPA and NPA during summer 2025 for “a full discussion on strategy and tactics ahead of the upcoming negotiations”. Following the meeting, it announced changes to the makeup of the committee that negotiates with the government on behalf of CPE.
The current community pharmacy contractual framework was agreed in March 2025 and covers 2024–2026.
