Concerns over the future of low prescription volume pharmacies in England, which will not be covered by nationally agreed financial support after March 31, have gained national prominence following a heated debate by MPs lasting nearly an hour that took place in the Houses of Parliament earlier this month (reports Asha Fowells).

Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, argued passionately for speedy resolution of the issues being faced by pharmacies dispensing fewer than 26,400 items a year and located more than a kilometre from any other pharmacy.

NHS England’s decision to remove the “modest support” for pharmacies that “might not otherwise be economically viable” and instead “leaving individual pharmacies to negotiate with their own NHS area teams” had proved “difficult, time consuming and stressful” for many contractors, Ms Nokes explained.

The Essential Small Pharmacies Scheme (ESPS) was discontinued in 2006 when the new contractual framework for England was introduced, but all members were transferred onto individual local pharmaceutical services (LPS) contracts. When these expired in 2010, PSNC negotiated an extension to 2013 and then another to March 2015.

Commissioning has now been devolved to NHS England, which says it is unable to negotiate national arrangements with PSNC and that essential small pharmacies need to secure an agreement with local area teams.

Although some pharmacies have been successful, others have only been promised time-limited support or have been asked to provide more evidence, with yet others still awaiting a response and the likelihood of
a drop in income now looming large.

Diversity

Ms Nokes highlighted the diversity of localities served by essential small pharmacies, ranging from rural communities to university campuses, and said that the uncertainty over the future of many was not only unfair to those working in them, but could also impact on the health of their customer base.

Parliamentary under-secretary of state for health, Jane Ellison, said that less than 1 per cent of pharmacies in England were affected by the change, stating “this is not a large-scale problem across the country – it is a localised problem”.