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The National Pharmacy Association and Independent Pharmacies Association have written a joint letter to NHS England urging them to publish the economic analysis of pharmacy immediately as talks on community pharmacy funding continue.

The two pharmacy bodies attempted to ratchet up the pressure on NHSE to make the analysis public in the knowledge it reveals the economic cost of delivering NHS pharmaceutical services and pharmacies’ viability under the current funding model.

NHSE and the Department of Health and Social Care are currently in talks with Community Pharmacy England over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 community pharmacy contractual framework.

In their letter, signed by the owners of 3,034 pharmacies in England, the NPA and IPA said the public had a right to “see the scale of the funding gap” impacting community pharmacies across England, leaving many struggling to stay open.

“It is clear this report will contain vitally important information about the short-term stability of the pharmacy network, which is a crucial part of the health infrastructure for millions of people,” the two bodies wrote.

They insisted there was “no justification for delaying publication” of the analysis, which NHSE said it is “committed to publishing” but without saying when.

“The stability of the pharmacy network is of vital public interest and the public has a right to see this analysis now,” the NPA and IPA said.

“Access to medication, health monitoring and advice in every locality is an indispensable and frequently life-saving part of our wider NHS network.

“Our central concern is that the dire financial state of community pharmacies – created over many years of neglect – poses a real and present threat to health services vital for millions of patients.

“We believe publishing this analysis now will help ministers, the NHS and pharmacies chart a way to securing the stable and sustainable pharmacy network that our patients so desperately need.”

NPA chair: no justification to keep public in the dark

Calling on NHSE to publish the analysis now, NPA chair Nick Kaye said: “The hundreds of pharmacy owners signing the open letter agree with us that pharmacies, patients and the public’s representatives in parliament should be allowed to see this vital information without further delay.

“There is no justification for the public to be kept in the dark on an issue of such national significance.

“Millions of people rely on a sustainable pharmacy network for life saving medication and convenient clinical care – they should not be denied the full facts of this dire situation.”

IPA chief: NHSE must be transparent and reveal the truth

Urging NHSE “to be transparent and reveal the truth”, IPA chief executive Leyla Hannbeck said: “The independent economic review by Frontier Economics was commissioned to show the true financial state of community pharmacy in England.

“Government officials now know the full picture of debt and suffering that years of underfunding and poor policies have imposed on these caring professionals.

“A sector now facing collapse and ruin as that debt is predicted to escalate.”