The government has made it very clear that it wants change within the whole of the healthcare sector and community pharmacy is part of that process. The need for the NHS to save £22 billion has recently been focused on pharmacy, and while we have yet to see or fully understand the outcomes of the discussions, the initial proposals suggest a ‘more for less’ approach. How do we achieve this, while still ensuring that pharmacy businesses stay viable and open?

What does the global sum cut of £170 million mean to the average pharmacy in England? On average this will be a £20,000 reduction from turnover and gross profit, and if we do nothing this will result in a reduction of £20,000 from the bottom line. If you are an average pharmacy you're dispensing between 6,500 and 7,000 items per month and cash flow will be hit from November onwards to approximately £3,300 per month.

This falls on top of living wage increases on 1 April and any new pension schemes that you may have started. So the reality is that the figure is closer to £30,000 over the 12-month period. The wage rises will also continue over the next four years as the government has set increases in the living wage.

We could dedicate a whole series of articles to understanding how community pharmacy has arrived at this point, but that is not for here and now. This article looks at what you can do to plan for the worst.

“Not more change!” I hear you cry. The only constant in life is change – we deal with it every day in most aspects of life, but we forget. I know the demands on pharmacy are growing on a daily basis: if it’s not drugs shortages and drug supply issues, it’s the electronic prescription service; the shared care records; demanding patients or staff challenges; or, for an employee, your boss or area manager.

We all have a choice of how to handle this. We can either accept that change is going to be there and deal with it or we can bury our heads in the sand. If you would prefer the first option, here are some suggestions on how to deliver and develop.