Local councils join campaign to fight funding cuts
A number of local councils have contacted the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) in support of the campaign to fight the planned £170 million cut to funding in England, C+D has learned.
The NPA plans to engage with local councils on a “bigger, industrial scale” in the near future, after several reached out to ask what they can do to help in their areas, it told C+D on Wednesday (August 24).
"At least three” councils have filed motions in support of their local pharmacies, “to express their concerns to government as well as local stakeholders”, a spokesperson for the NPA said.
Hastings Borough Council and Kent County Council are among the local authorities to have laid down motions, while a councillor at Newcastle City Council “has inquired about a motion”, the NPA confirmed.
The support group said local councils are a “valuable and engaged” group, which “by its nature, will care about what is happening locally”.
The fight continues
Earlier this month, the NPA announced that more than a third of MPs in England have been contacted as a result of the association’s ‘Email your MP’ lobbying tool.
The tool, which includes a template letter, aims to keep the campaign momentum up over the parliamentary break, it said.
“We’re asking MPs to refresh their understanding of the situation and consider alternative measures,” the NPA added.
With a new pharmacy minister and a health ministerial team, the NPA said there is a good opportunity to look at the funding proposals “with fresh eyes…rather than waving through policy that was drafted before [their] time in office”.
The NPA has sent a note out to every pharmacist who has accessed the lobbying tool to see if they have had a response from their MP. It expects to share the results in a couple of weeks, it stressed.
Have you used the NPA lobbying tool?