Somerset MP welcomes £800 million funding for community pharmacies
Rachel Gilmour, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, has consistently called for improvements and praised the government's pharmacy settlement.
The funding uplift was announced on Monday, March 31, on the government website.
It comes as a result of a six-week consultation between the Department for Health and Social Care and Community Pharmacy England.
Alongside the funding increase, the government will also write off £193 million of debt for community pharmacy owners, providing them with a fresh start for the new financial year beginning on Monday, April 1.
The increase marks the government's initial efforts to address years of underfunding, which have led to significant financial shortfalls in the sector.
This announcement will also see the continuation of Pharmacy First services, with antidepressants and an emergency contraception service set to be added to the New Medicine Service from October 2025.
Ms Gilmour said: "I welcome the government's funding announcements today, which will see pharmacies across the UK receive the largest uplift in funding across the whole of the NHS.
"This fantastic news, and it is clear the government has listened to the repeated calls from me and my colleagues to close the pharmacy funding gap."
She highlighted that last year she secured a Westminster Hall debate on community pharmacies, where she pointed out the vital work done by pharmacies across her constituency.
Ms Gilmour mentioned that 56 million people across the UK use pharmacies as their first point of contact annually.
She added that despite this, in under a decade, the proportion of NHS funding for pharmacies has fallen from 2.4 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
According to her, an average pharmacy relies on NHS funding for 90 per cent of its income.
Ms Gilmour believes that this new funding will have a positive impact on the NHS in the long run.
However, she noted that Community Pharmacy England has stated that these new measures will not address the entire funding gap.
She stressed that this still needs to be looked at by the government.
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: "With the highest funding uplift across the NHS, this settlement is a welcome first step towards sustainability and will bring some positive clinical service extensions for patients.
"But it does not fill the full pharmacy funding gap.
"Crucially, the settlement comes with a firm commitment from government to work towards a sustainable funding and operating model for the sector, and we will continue to work with Government to ensure that this happens."
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