PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pharmacy (8 June 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of the local pharmacy sector; and whether he plans to adjust the funding structure to allocate more funding to that sector.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, £370 million extra advance payments were made to support pharmacies for maintaining medicine supplies and providing health advice. The COVID-19 support package for community pharmacy also included general COVID-19 business financial support, funding for Bank Holiday openings, social distancing measures, the medicine delivery service to shielded patients and free personal protective equipment. This also included non-monetary support, including the removal of some administrative tasks, flexibility in opening hours and the delayed introduction of new services. Discussions are ongoing with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) about reimbursement of COVID-19 costs incurred during the pandemic and recovery of the £370 million

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal, agreed in 2019 with the PSNC, commits £2.592 billion annually to the sector. In addition, further funding is available outside of the CPCF, for example for flu and COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 lateral flow testing.

Answered by:
Jo Churchill (Conservative)
16 June 2021