Community Pharmacy England

Pharmacy bodies call on new health secretary to boost funding for sector

The joint letter to Wes Streeting called for sufficient funding, holistic workforce planning and improved medicines security to help address the challenges faced by the NHS.…

Pharmacies being ‘unreasonably penalised’ for not meeting Pharmacy First thresholds, says Community Pharmacy England

The monthly minimum threshold pharmacies must meet to receive the fixed £1,000 monthly payment is set to increase to 30 consultations by October 2024.…

GPs should turn off automatic pharmacy patient record updates, BMA recommends

The British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee said it was discussing with NHS England "implications" of software that allows pharmacists to directly update records.…

GP Connect rolled out to ‘most pharmacies’ in England, says CPE

The GP Connect Update Record allows community pharmacies to securely update a patient’s GP record following a consultation.…

MPs call for urgent overhaul of community pharmacy funding model

A report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee said it had been told of annual shortfalls of “at least £67,000 per pharmacy in England” and up to “around £100,000” by pharmacy representative organisations.…

Pharmacy regulator to consider supporting surveys of registrants’ wellbeing

Pharmacy organisations agreed actions at a roundtable on wellbeing in the profession held in February 2024.…

More than 90% of pharmacies say medicines shortages have got worse over the past year

Results of a survey carried out by Community Pharmacy England show that 99% of pharmacies were affected by medicines supply problems at least weekly, with 94% of pharmacy owners saying their teams were spending more time sourcing medicines in 2024 compared to 2023.…

Meeting May 2024 Pharmacy First payment thresholds is ‘an area of risk’, warns Community Pharmacy England

The concerns are backed by the results of a survey of independent pharmacy owners carried out by the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, which revealed 19% of respondents said the minimum monthly thresholds are "unachievable".…

More than 125,000 Pharmacy First consultations delivered in its first month

Pharmacy minister Andrea Leadsom also confirmed that monthly data on the number of Pharmacy First consultations will be published from May 2024.…

Drug reimbursement reforms could increase price volatility, warns negotiator

Community Pharmacy England said a move to quarterly updating of Category A reimbursement prices could have an "unknown impact" on medicines supply chains.…