PSNC has urged David Cameron to reconsider his plans for community pharmacy after the Prime Minister told MPs that he wanted to see value for money from the sector following “massive increases” in spending.

The Prime Minister’s comments followed a question from Sue Hayman, Labour MP for Workington, who asked whether the Government would support independent pharmacies which she said were a vital lifeline for rural communities and helped keep high streets alive. 

Ms Hayman mentioned Allisons’ Chemists in Cockermouth, which she said had collected more than 2,000 signatures for the petition against the Government’s planned funding cuts.

Mr Cameron said the Government would support rural pharmacies but he added that there had been “a massive increase in pharmacy spending” over the past five years. He said: “As we make sure that as much of the NHS’s resources go to the front line – the doctors and the nurses and the operations and the A&E that we want to see carried out – we’ve got to see value for money in pharmacy while at the same time protecting the rural pharmacies.”

Missed opportunity

Responding to the comments, PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe said: “The Prime Minister could have taken the opportunity to recognise the excellent front-line work carried out every day in community pharmacies all over the country and to welcome PSNC’s recent counter-proposals for the pharmacy contract.

”It seems, however, that Mr Cameron was poorly briefed by his officials. Community pharmacies are at the front-line of healthcare. Community pharmacies are the front line that keep people out of A&E and GP surgeries.   

”It is not accurate to say that there has been a massive increase in pharmacy spending over the past five years. The global sum distributed to community pharmacies has grown significantly slower than inflation and rising volumes of prescriptions. It has also grown slower than overall funding for the NHS. Community pharmacies provide excellent value for money to the NHS.”

Pharmacies are front line

The NPA also said that David Cameron had been poorly advised. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister (April 21) from chairman Ian Strachan, Cameron's implication that pharmacies were not part of the health service front line was sharply challenged.

”Pharmacies are front and centre of the healthcare system in this country,” said Ian Strachan. ”Around 1.6 million people visit pharmacies every day for treatment and advice. Pharmacies are the best first port of call for the vast majority of health concerns. There is no more accessible health care professional than your local pharmacist. People have access to advice from trusted professionals, without an appointment, in neighbourhoods right across the country. What is more front line than this?

”I suspect that your comment about a massive increase in pharmacy spending actually refers to the medicines budget (the drugs bill) rather than the cost of providing pharmaceutical care in pharmacies. The medicines budget is indeed rising steeply, and community pharmacists have great potential to help the taxpayer get better value from that expenditure – by helping patients to get the best use of their medicines and reducing medicines waste.”

The NPA chairman points out that three-quarters-of-a-million patients and members of the public have already signed a petition against recent Department of Health proposals that put pharmacy services at risk.

”The petition continues to grow at a rate of 30,000 signatures every day. These people know the true value of local pharmacies, which are vital community assets. I only wish the same could be said for the officials who have so misled you, when preparing for PMQs.”

Ian Strachan concludes by asking the Prime Minister to correct the misinformation given to Parliament at the earliest opportunity and, more importantly still, to ask health ministers to think again about the disastrous course of action they have recently embarked upon in relation to community pharmacy.

”It is a dangerous experiment which could see local pharmacies close, thereby reducing people’s access to pharmaceutical and healthcare advice, and putting extra pressure on GPs and hospitals. At risk is a part of the health system that holds the key to solving many of its problems. Patients would be the biggest losers, including some of the most vulnerable people in society.”

It is not accurate to say there has been a massive increase in pharmacy spending over the past five years