However, despite the headline figures, the fundamental issues facing frontline pharmacists remain unaddressed. The workforce, those who bear the brunt of service delivery, has once again been sidelined in negotiations, with contractual discussions taking place without their input. Community Pharmacy England represents the voices of pharmacy contractors and business owners, not those of the workforce. This continued exclusion of frontline voices raises serious concerns about the viability and fairness of the new funding settlement.
The Government’s commitment to stabilising the sector is welcome in principle. Still, the reality is that any additional funding will largely be absorbed by the financial shortfalls of years of chronic underinvestment. The £3.073 billion baseline funding for 2025/26 and the additional £215 million for Pharmacy First and Primary Care Recovery Plan services are significant figures, but they must be viewed in context. The newly published Economic Analysis underscores the dire financial state of the sector, with 47% of community pharmacies operating at a loss and defaulting on payments for essential stock. The so-called ‘uplift’ will be spent plugging these gaps rather than improving conditions for the workforce or ensuring fair remuneration for those on the frontlines of patient care.
A glaring omission from this settlement is any concrete assurance that additional funding will translate into better pay, working conditions, or career progression for pharmacists and their teams. Pharmacists are consistently asked to do more with less as service delivery frameworks expand without adequate staffing or resources. This funding deal introduces expansions to the New Medicine Service (NMS) and the Contraception Service while offering little direct investment in the professionals expected to implement these additional responsibilities.
Recent wellbeing survey results from Pharmacist Support highlighted that 91% of community pharmacists are at risk of burnout, and 61% of all pharmacists are considering leaving their jobs or the profession altogether. This should set alarm bells ringing for policymakers, yet there is no clear commitment to addressing these alarming trends – a direct consequence of not having the workforce’s voice around the table. Without direct investment in the workforce, the sector faces an inevitable cycle of attrition, leading to further staff shortages and mounting workloads for those who remain. The failure to channel funding into improving working conditions and fair remuneration threatens the sustainability of the sector and jeopardises patient care.
Moreover, while measures such as the Single Activity Fee (SAF) increase to £1.46 per item and the margin allowance rise to £900 million per year might suggest financial relief, they fail to address the fundamental structural issues within community pharmacy. These increases do not ensure that the pharmacy workforce, those delivering these vital services, see any tangible benefit. Instead, they serve to mitigate the financial strain on business owners and help manage operational costs rather than flowing through to the workforce.
It is also troubling that regulatory changes, such as those concerning Distance Selling Pharmacies (DSPs) and opening hours, were negotiated without transparent engagement with those working within the sector. This lack of consultation reinforces a pattern in which policymakers and negotiators make decisions with limited firsthand experience of the daily challenges pharmacists and their teams face.
Jay Badenhorst, Director of Pharmacy at the PDA, said ‘While the Government’s commitment to a ‘sustainable funding and operational model’ is noted, there remains a lack of clarity on how workforce concerns will be factored into this vision. Without meaningful engagement with pharmacists and pharmacy staff, there is a real risk that the sector will continue to operate under a framework that prioritises cost-cutting over workforce wellbeing and professional recognition.’
Ultimately, this funding settlement may prevent further financial collapse in the short term, but it fails to offer real solutions for those at the heart of community pharmacy – the workforce. If the Government is serious about the future of pharmacy, it must ensure that the workforce who deliver these essential services have a seat at the negotiating table. Anything less is a continuation of the disregard that has led to the sector’s current crisis. We call on the Government to ensure that this is the last time that the voices of the workforce are not directly included in any pharmacy contractual framework negotiations.
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