In Business news

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

The Independent Pharmacies Association has said it may consider taking legal action against the Government if it fails to approach funding talks “with the seriousness and responsibility shown by others”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday January 27, the IPA called for “meaningful action” to tackle the “serious distress” that saw over 650 pharmacies close in England and Wales last year, with rising costs threatening to force more out of business. 

“Despite the government’s assertion that last year’s funding settlement was a record investment, that is not representative of the situation on the ground,” said the IPA.

“The unsatisfactory pharmacy funding, alongside the employers’ National Insurance contribution hike, rise in the national minimum wage, and the impending business rates increase, means that without urgent intervention, widespread closures are inevitable.”

The organisation said it was calling on other pharmacy representative bodies to join it in urging policymakers “to bring forward a fair, credible and sustainable settlement for the forthcoming pharmacy funding negotiations”.

The IPA urged Department of Health and Social Care officials to be mindful of the “significant risk to medicines supply” posed by the sector’s financial situation, commenting: “Community pharmacies are the final link in the medicines supply chain, and further instability threatens patient access, continuity of care and wider NHS resilience.”

The risk is particularly acute in socio-economically deprived areas where pharmacies rely on NHS income and “have little or no ability to subsidise services through private provision,” warned the IPA.

It added: “We therefore call on the Government to enter these negotiations in good faith, with a genuine commitment to delivering a settlement that allows community pharmacies not merely to survive, but to be able to provide the best patient care possible via the enhanced role envisaged by the NHS 10-Year Plan.

“If the Government does not approach these negotiations with the seriousness and responsibility shown by others, we will have no option but to explore all available avenues to address this situation, including legal routes if necessary.”

The sector took a previous Conservative government to court in 2017 when Community Pharmacy England (then named the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee) sought a judicial review of the decision to impose funding cuts of more than £200m. The case ultimately failed at appeal in 2018.

In a recent letter to pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock, CPE said a funding uplift implemented in March 2025 has been swallowed up by rising business costs, adding: “Upcoming changes introduced by the 2025 Autumn Budget are expected to add millions in extra costs, including through a National Living Wage rise and higher business rates.”

Related: NPA: Government’s omission of pharmacies from business rates support is ‘an insult’