Reducing staff to try and mitigate the impact of planned cuts to pharmacy funding is the “single biggest mistake” contractors could make, Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) president Ash Soni has warned.

Making staff redundant as a way to offset plans to slash the global sum by £170 million is a risky strategy because it will take away from what pharmacies can offer, Mr Soni told delegates at Avicenna’s conference in Mauritius yesterday (May 30).

"Adapt to survive"

Instead, contractors should look at what tasks they can delegate to their employees – such as electronic prescription service (EPS) checks and ordering stock – which will free up time to concentrate on other tasks, he said.

“If you are prepared to spend some of that time and invest in them, they will give you back as much,” Mr Soni told delegates. “The value and opportunity it creates for you to be able to do all the things you need to be able to do are enormous.”

Mr Soni added that pharmacies could only expect to survive over the next three to five years if they adapt to offer patients more clinical care and better use of their medicines. These services are currently the subject of a wide-ranging review by NHS England, ordered by the country's chief pharmacuetical officer Keith Ridge.

“If you cannot do that, think about employing a young pharmacist who will do it for you. If you don’t want to do it, think about whether you want to continue to own your pharmacy,” he said.

PSNC counter-proposals “interesting”

Mr Soni also branded the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s (PSNC) counter-proposals to the funding cuts – which includes a suggetsion to dispense generics in place of certain branded drugs – “interesting”. But he suggested they would not be enough to change the government’s mind.

The government has no option but to take £170m “in some shape or form” from pharmacy’s global sum, because NHS England is restricted on how much funding it has budgeted for the sector, Mr Soni said.

While PSNC has put forward some “great ideas” in its counter-proposals, Mr Soni questioned whether they were enough to save the £170m in savings the government seems determined to find.

“If they can’t [save that much money], they’re unlikely to be adoptable,” he said.

Read readers' verdict on PSNC's plans here

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