This week in Parliament w/c 6th January

Welcome back to the first APPG on Pharmacy weekly Parliamentary update of 2025. Set out below is a summary of key parliamentary and policy developments in community pharmacy from the week just gone.

Key Parliamentary Activity

Announcements

Government response: Health and Social Care Select Committee report into Pharmacy

On Friday 10th January, the Health and Social Care Committee published the Government’s response to the predecessor committee’s report on Pharmacy and has written back to the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, to follow up on particular issues raised in the report and response.

The report, which was published prior to the general election outlined that  the Government must urgently reform the funding framework for community pharmacy if more clinical services are to be delivered and increasing demands for medication are to be met. The report also outlined the Government to address medicine shortages, which they warned risked undermining initiatives such as Pharmacy First by eroding public confidence in pharmacists. 

In its response, the Government set out the following as ambitions:

  1. Pharmacy as a Priority: Despite the report being for the previous government, the current Government will prioritise pharmacy services and aim to address long-standing issues.

  2. 10 Year Health Plan: Following Lord Darzi's investigation, a 10 Year Health Plan engagement exercise has been launched to reform the NHS, focusing on moving healthcare from hospitals to the community, transitioning from analogue to digital, and shifting from sickness to prevention.

  3. Expanding Pharmacy Roles: The government is committed to expanding the roles of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. A refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan will be published in the summer to support this transformation.

  4. Support for Pharmacy First: The government supports the Pharmacy First program and aims to build on it to shift care from hospitals to the community and from treatment to prevention.

In response, the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Layla Moran stated: “We agree with our predecessor Committee that pharmacies have fantastic potential to improve access to healthcare and alleviate pressures on the wider health service. We would urge the Government to be bold and ambitious when setting out its vision for the role that community pharmacies could play and believe that they should play a prominent role in the delivery of the Government’s ambition to shift care from hospitals into the community.”

Further information can be found here.

Contributions

Oral Contributions

Business of the House - Thursday 9 January – Full transcript here.

Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat) addressed the concerns about the long-term viability and sustainability of pharmacy, noting Pharmacy First, funding constraints and medicines access issues.

Engagements -  Wednesday 8 January – Full transcript here.

Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat) raised issue of her constituent who is struggling to keep his pharmacy open and using personal savings to meet price demands and maintain service.

Topical Questions – Tuesday 7 January 2025 – Full transcript here.

Tristan Osborne (Labour) asked the Minster for Care whether there were plans to review and expand the Pharmacy First scheme.

Written Questions:

There were 13  written questions relating to Pharmacy answered in the House of Commons  and House of Lords this week. These can be viewed on Hansard here.