PSNC publishes its response to the Government’s Consultation “Community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond”

PSNC has published its response to the Government’s letter from 17th December 2015 entitled “Community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond”.

Within the response, PSNC makes clear that the proposals contained in the letter represent a major threat to the future availability of accessible healthcare, support and advice from community pharmacies. PSNC are concerned that this threat has not been made clear to the public nor to their representatives, and that the policies underpinning the letter have not been based on analysis of the likely consequences or costs to the public as patients, members of our communities, or taxpayers.

The response also highlights that whilst PSNC is willing and keen to work collaboratively to achieve change, proper, informed negotiations between the Government and PSNC have been made impossible by the lack of clarity, detail or analysis of the issues raised by the letter.

PSNC’s response sets out the following key principles:

• The interests of patients and patient care must underpin proposals;
• Policies must be well-informed, using NHS resources effectively;
• The ability of community pharmacy to offer much more to our communities has been largely neglected by policy makers. To meet the future health of our communities this must be properly addressed with urgency;
• Remote supply and the benefits of automation are untested;
• The interests of patient care must influence decisions about future pharmacy numbers and locations;
• The NHS can make savings and improve patient care by developing patient services from pharmacies; and
• The government must be honest, open and fair in implementing a major change of policy on community pharmacy.

​You can download the full response below.
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