It is still not clear when pay negotiations for pharmacy contractors in England will conclude, but until they do fee levels will remain the same and existing service arrangements will continue unchanged.

Any adjustments to fees or margin needed to deliver the total funding sum for 2024/25 will be made later in the year once these critical negotiations have concluded, Community Pharmacy England said after April's committee meeting.

Speaking after CPE’s April meeting, chief executive Janet Morrison said: “Community pharmacy businesses are in deep distress. They are working in crisis mode while the current pharmacy funding levels are quite simply driving them out of business.

“We are continuing to warn Government and NHS England both privately and publicly of the very dire consequences – to both pharmacies and their patients – should they continue along this path of attrition.

“Our negotiating team is cognisant of the urgent need for pharmacy businesses to have clarity about the future, but at the same time is focused on getting the best deal for pharmacy owners on the table as soon as we possibly can.”

CPE has been pushing for margin write-offs and for an agreed mechanism for regular funding increases linked to activity and inflation; for annual uplifts to service fees; and for more fundamental reform of the margin delivery framework and an economic review of the medicines supply chain.

Pharmacy First – successful launch

Despite significant IT issues, CPE judges the initial phases of the roll out of the Pharmacy First service to be a success, with pharmacy teams reporting positive feedback from patients, and pharmacists noting how much they are enjoying providing the service.

However, the ability of pharmacy owners to pass the threshold levels for clinical pathways consultations to trigger the monthly payment of £1,000 continues to be an area of risk which CPE has been concerned about since the negotiations on the service started. This will be kept under review, as NHS data on service provisions becomes available.

“More communications activity is required to increase the public’s awareness of the availability of the service, and we will continue to push DHSC and NHS England to undertake more advertising, alongside further work that we have planned to continue to promote the service to the public,” says CPE.

Feedback from LPCs is to be sought on draft Terms of Reference for a new Forum of LPC Chairs. The forum is intended to “provide an opportunity for collective engagement and discussion with CPE on emerging issues or areas of concern, along with input into plans and policies during their development and testing”.