Dear Colleague,

Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of The Pharmacy Show newsletter!

In the final month of 2024 community pharmacy was brought to the forefront of the national conversation, with both government and pharmacy leaders demanding clarity over what the new year would bring. December saw a House of Commons debate on Government support for community pharmacies in Devon and the South West; the Health Minister discussing his plans for community pharmacy in 2025 and controversy surrounding the GP contract for 2025/2026.

Meanwhile, the first few weeks of 2025 are shaping up to be key in defining the future of community pharmacy in the UK. With England awaiting funding negotiations with the government, alongside the potentially imminent collective action backed in the recent NPA ballot, we hope that the current uncertainty facing the sector forms a clearer vision of a hopeful future.

In this edition we have…

• An update on Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework negotiations in England
• An update on universal hub-and-spoke dispensing legislation and what this means for you
• Good news in Wales with a 6% funding uplift for community pharmacy
• Key news in brief and updates from the world of community pharmacy

And more…

As 2025 planning is now underway, we are actively calling on the Pharmacy Show community to help us deliver a year filled to the brim with high quality educational content.  

If you would like to speak at the show or contribute to future newsletters, please get in touch at b.ridley@closerstillmedia.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Barney Ridley

Senior Content Producer

The Pharmacy Show

Pharmacy Show & Current News

Health Secretary gives update on England’s CPCF negotiations

The Health Secretary Wes Streeting has stated that CPCF negotiations will be commencing “shortly in the new year.” Speaking at an evidence session held by the Health and Social Care...

Government set to ‘introduce’ hub-and-spoke legislation in 2025

Stephen Kinnock has recently announced that the government “is working towards introducing legislation to enable hub-and-spoke dispensing between...

Community pharmacies in Wales secure 6% funding increase in CPCF for 2024/2025

The Welsh government has confirmed an agreement with Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) that community pharmacies in Wales will receive a 6%...

Challenges for Modern Pharmaceutical Supply Chains

Our recent series of articles highlighted that pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and other stakeholders face a unique set of challenges across their supply chains. While the supply chain is normally considered a seamless end-to-end, supplier-to-customer process it may be useful to think of it in three phases: sourcing and ...

In case you missed it, we have highlighted some current news below:

• NHS England delays mandatory multi-sector training rotations to 2027/2028 cohort
• January Drug Tariff update
• Morrisons launches ‘on-demand’ online pharmacy service
• Places still available on CPPE’s ‘Pharmacy technician: advancing your role’ programme
• January 2025 Category M prices announced - pharmacies face £34m reimbursement reduction per quarter
• Approval of new NHS drugs recommended by NICE results in population health ‘trade-offs’, new study suggests
• Ban on puberty blockers in the UK made indefinite
• Online pharmacies to be inspected within six months of registration, says GPhC
• UK lost nearly 13,500 retail stores in 2024
• CPE responds to the DHSC announcement on General Practice investment and changes for 2025/26
• NHS England data claims 87% of pharmacies ‘actively delivering’ Pharmacy First

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