COMMUNITY pharmacy will remain an integral part of the country’s healthcare system, minister of state at the Department of Health and Social Care, Edward Argar, said last week.
Addressing the 19th annual Pharmacy Business Awards last Thursday (26) in London, he said: “Community pharmacy has and always will be an integral and trusted part of our NHS, part of that family without whom our healthcare system simply would not work.”
Edward Argar
Argar told the 700-strong audience the sector has “a vital role to play in reducing demand on the health system, moving care out of hospital and into the community”.
He said the five-year pharmacy deal set out a “clear direction of travel focusing on health priorities” and supported the integration of pharmacies into the heart of the healthcare system, allowing community pharmacists to make the best use of their skills.
Shailesh Solanki, the executive editor of Pharmacy Business, said the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework would “fundamentally reshape” pharmacy as it moved from dispensing to a more clinical, services-based future.
He said the contract acknowledged “the importance of community pharmacy in delivering improved health outcomes” as it identified “urgent care, patient safety and prevention as key areas of focus.”
However, the new agreement was a reduction in real terms, Solanki cautioned.
“By the end of this new deal, the value of the pharmacy contract will have reduced by nearly 30 per cent since 2015,” he said.
“The reality is that pharmacy finances are in a perilous state, and many contractors are dipping into their own savings to simply ensure that their businesses survive,” he added, urging the government to back “its new vision with adequate funding”.
“Over 20 million appointments in general practice do not require a GP consultation, so community pharmacy is ideally placed to triage, treat and signpost patients to other parts of the NHS,” he said.
The awards were a recognition of community pharmacies.
Raj Modi, a pharmacy manager in Derbyshire, received a special mention for his role during the recent flooding in Whaley Bridge, where he went above the call of duty to ensure that residents of the town didn’t go without their vital medication.
Sir Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley and a champion of community pharmacy for many years, won the Editor’s award.
Lakshmi Mittal 
