Community pharmacy plays a vital role in our health service and that is why the Government is improving the service, making better use of pharmacists’ valuable clinical skills, and using taxpayers’ money more efficiently. I would like to take this opportunity to explain our plans.
Two-fifths of pharmacies are within ten minutes’ walk of two or more other pharmacies. Their budget has also gone up by 40 per cent over the last decade. But the current funding system does not always promote efficient, high quality services and the sector could be better integrated with the rest of the NHS. To provide certainty, the Government has announced a two-year funding settlement for community pharmacy, with pharmacies receiving £2.687 billion funding in 2016/17 and £2.592 billion in 2017/18.
We will be simplifying the outdated payment structure for community pharmacy so for the first time, the Government will pay them for the quality of service they provide, not just the volume of prescriptions they dispense. By giving pharmacy a clear role in urgent care, I believe we can relieve pressure on other parts of the NHS. For example, patients who need urgent repeat prescription medicines will be referred from NHS 111 directly to pharmacies and there will be national coverage of minor ailments services delivered through them by April 2018.
By Patrick McLoughlin on November 02, 2016