The NPA is encouraging community pharmacists to re-engage their local MPs with the Support Your Local Pharmacy campaign by using a new online tool.

The Email Your MP tool makes it easy for pharmacists to lobby their MP by email or social media. It has been populated with a template email, which aims to refresh MPs' understanding of the campaign and encourage the new ministerial team to discuss the issues with community pharmacy representatives as soon as possible.

Pharmacists can simply add their name to the template email or else edit it to include their own thoughts.

The Government was expected to make an an annoucement on the proposed cuts to pharmacy services in early July so that pharmacies would be fully informed of the changes to be implemented by October. However, Parliament has now risen for summer recess without an official word.

NPA chairman Ian Strachan, said: "We still don’t know for sure what may happen, whether in October or further into the future. What we can say for certain is that ministers and officials have been forced to think longer and harder about their plans as a result of the determined campaigning efforts of NPA members and many others in the sector, and patients too.

“It is too early to celebrate. But it’s not too early to thank and congratulate the people who have fought so hard up to this point to secure a sustainable future for local pharmacies. There is a long list of people to acknowledge – from pharmacists and pharmacy staff, to LPC executives, patient representatives, pharmacy students, MPs, councillors and many others."