The impact of the funding announcement on your pharmacy business

On 31 March 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE), and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework funding for community pharmacies in England.

The framework outlined a boost in patient services as community pharmacies are set to receive a record investment worth an extra £617 million over two years. Additionally, the Government plans to disregard £193 million of debt for community pharmacy owners to give them confidence going into the new financial year.

The investment comes alongside reforms to deliver a raft of patient benefits, as part of the Government’s agenda to shift the focus of care from hospitals into the community, so that people can more easily access support on their high streets. The greater range of services provided aims to not only improve access for patients but also free up GP time and cut waiting lists by avoiding the need for people to book in to see their GP.

This includes:

• Making the ‘morning-after pill’ available free of charge at pharmacies on the NHS for the first time ever, ending the postcode lottery women face in accessing the medicine and reducing inequalities
• Offering patients suffering depression convenient support at pharmacies when they are prescribed antidepressants, to boost mental health support in the community
• Giving patients easier access to consultations, with more of the pharmacy team able to deliver a wider number of services such as medicines and prescriptions advice, Pharmacy First services and carrying out blood pressure checks
• Boosting financial incentives for pharmacists to identify patients with undiagnosed high blood pressure and take the pressure off GPs
• Boosting funding for medicine supply so patients have better access to what they need. This includes writing off the historic debt linked to dispensing activity during the pandemic and increasing fees linked with dispensing prescriptions

Commenting on the agreement, Jonathan Board, Director & Head of Pharmacy at Christie & Co, said: “Whilst the funding for 2025/26 is to increase to £3.073 billion and see a further £215 million to fund the Pharmacy First scheme, it may not be everything that operators were hoping for following the release of the report on the economic analysis of community pharmacy as commissioned by NHS England. It is, however, positive that there seems to be a commitment from parties to work towards a sustainable funding model to underpin the sector for the longer term, with an intention to begin 2026/27 negotiations shortly after the summer when the current Government Spending Review process is concluded. This announcement finally allows pharmacy owners to understand the impact of the new funding settlement for their business after so much talk in recent times, and it will enable them to plan and invest accordingly but, as always, the devil is in the detail and does rely on progress being made on the next stage of negotiations.”

For a discussion about how the funding agreement might impact your pharmacy business, contact: jonathan.board@christie.com