Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has released an animation “to help educate and inform politicians about the indispensable role of community pharmacies and their current challenges,” the negotiator said yesterday (September 2). 

The video resource lasts just under two minutes, and CPE said it introduces “our key messages to MPs in a concise and engaging way”. 

“The new MP animation may be useful for pharmacy owners and LPCs to share with local MPs as part of ongoing engagement with them. It could also be used to encourage MPs to attend Community Pharmacy England’s Parliamentary drop-in event on Tuesday 10th September,” CPE added. 

Key messages and facts in the animation include: 

• CPE represents more than 10,000 community pharmacies in England and negotiate their NHS funding which accounts for more than 90% of their income. 

• Pharmacies dispense more than 1.1 billion prescriptions every year as over 24 million people are on at least one repeat prescription. 

• The NHS believes pharmacies could save up to 10 million GP appointments annually and help more with vaccinations, supporting women’s health, improving public health, and helping with long term conditions. 

• There has been a 30% real terms funding cut since 2015 while inflation and costs have soared, which has forced many to withdraw services for patients and to reduce their opening hours. 

• They are currently facing a critical financial squeeze, extreme operations pressures, and issues with medicine supply and pricing as since October 2016, 1,300 pharmacies have permanently closed. 

CPE said it wants MPs to do more in protecting community pharmacies in their constituencies by ensuring “the sector’s sustainability and continued contribution to the nation’s health”. 

The negotiator is hosting a Parliamentary drop-in event for MPs “to learn the basics about the sector” with members of CPE’s committee and policy team and representatives from patient groups attending the event. 

CPE has called on pharmacy owners and LPCs to encourage their local MPs to attend the event, and has shared letter and social media templates to invite them along.