Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as Prime Minister marks another significant chapter in an increasingly turbulent period for British politics. Regardless of political allegiance, no one can ignore the extraordinary pace of change at the top of government in recent years.
Pharmacies across the UK have spent years adapting to political change, economic pressures and growing patient demand. They have continued to provide care through funding constraints, workforce shortages and rising operational costs, all while delivering more clinical services closer to people’s homes.
The recent increase in funding for community pharmacy in England was welcome recognition that the sector had reached breaking point. That said, it was never going to solve the underlying challenges facing the network. It represented a starting point rather than a destination.
The next Prime Minister and their administration must resist the temptation to press pause on reform while leadership contests and political priorities are reset.
Every day, community pharmacies manage minor illnesses, support people with long-term conditions, provide urgent medicines advice and help ease pressure on other parts of the NHS. They are often the most accessible healthcare professionals in the country, requiring no appointment and embedded in the heart of their communities.
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Yet there remains a disconnect between what policymakers say they want from community pharmacy and the support needed to make that vision a reality.
If successive governments are serious about prevention, neighbourhood health services and improving access to care, then community pharmacy must be recognised not as an afterthought and must be seen as a strategic partner in delivering those ambitions.
This moment of political transition also presents an opportunity.
A new Prime Minister will rightly seek to define their government’s priorities. They should start by looking at the assets already available to them. More than 10,000 community pharmacies stand ready to do more; supporting the management of long-term conditions, expanding clinical services, improving medicines optimisation and helping tackle health inequalities.
The infrastructure exists. The public trust exists. The willingness to innovate certainly exists.
What is required is consistency of purpose.
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The constant churn of ministers, changing priorities and short-term policymaking has too often prevented meaningful progress. Community pharmacy needs a stable framework that allows businesses to invest, recruit, innovate and plan for the future with confidence.
Sir Keir Starmer came into office promising to rebuild public services and restore trust in politics. Whatever judgment history ultimately makes about his premiership, those objectives remain as important as ever.
As the country prepares for a new chapter in political leadership, my message to those seeking to lead is simple; do not lose sight of community pharmacy.
Invest in it. Work with it. Trust it.
Because if we truly want an NHS that is more accessible, more preventative and more sustainable, community pharmacy is not part of the problem to be solved.
It is one of the solutions already in place.
Harry McQuillan is chairman of Numark