The National Pharmacy Association has said it is confident Wes Streeting would introduce “some significant changes” in community pharmacy and wider NHS if Labour wins the next general election and returns to power.

NPA public affairs manager Neil Bhayani told Independent Community Pharmacist that his organisation has met the shadow health secretary (pictured) on numerous occasions “over the past months and years” to talk about how pharmacy teams improve the health of local communities and how that can be developed in future.

Bhayani insisted the NPA has told all the political parties that community pharmacy needs more funding but when asked if it has a clear picture of what a Labour government would do for the sector, he said: “Labour has talked about cutting NHS bureaucracy, making better use of tech across the health service and expanding the role of pharmacies in long term conditions, prevention and urgent care.”

Suggesting “Wes is not shy of the word reform,” Bhayani added: “We should expect some significant changes should Labour come to power. We have made clear to him that the current community pharmacy contract is crying out for change.”

A Labour government is looking likely according to a YouGov poll this week which showed the party would win a “1997-style” landslide victory if the election was held today. However, Bhayani said the NPA continues to make the “investment case” for community pharmacy “to all the political parties and highlight the immense financial and workload pressures pharmacies are under.”

“Building relationships with politicians is very important so we can work with all parties to deliver what pharmacies, and the people they serve, deserve,” he said.

Streeting and his team met the NPA during his visit to Cherry Pharmacy in Northamptonshire yesterday when he spoke with the pharmacy’s staff about the challenges facing community pharmacy.

The NPA quoted Streeting as saying during his visit: “We value you and we are committed to working in partnership to deliver great pharmacy services and get the NHS back on its feet,” whilst insisting he recognised “enormous final pressures” and “serious strains” had led to pharmacies closing.

NPA chief executive Paul Rees, who was also at the pharmacy, said: “It’s really important to give politicians on all sides a ground-level view of community pharmacy, so the NPA has arranged many pharmacy visits.

“We want them to understand the intense pressures our members are under, but also to offer a vision of how things can be so much better given sustained and substantial investment.”