Pharmacy bodies have reacted with dismay to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget, calling the statement “very concerning” and urging the government to “invest in community pharmacies”.
Revealed yesterday (November 26), the budget includes government plans to freeze NHS prescription charges, establish 250 new neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) and increase the national living and minimum wages.
Read more: NHS prescription charge freeze extended for 2026/27
The government announced that:
- From April, the national living wage will rise by 4.1% to £12.71 per hour, while the national minimum wage for 18–20-year-olds will increase by 8.5% to £10.85 per hour
- It will permanently lower business rates tax rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties, and “cap business rates bill increases for sectors hit hardest by revaluations” from April
- Thresholds for personal tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be frozen from 2028 until 2031
- It will establish 250 new NHCs across England, with 120 of them to be “operational by 2030”
- “Early new sites” will be located in Birmingham, Barrow-in-Furness, Truro and Southall and “will build on successful models already operating in Hull and Barnsley”
- The new NHCs will be delivered via a programme to “upgrade and repurpose underused buildings and build new facilities through a combination of public investment and public-private partnerships”
“Deeply disappointing”
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison said that the minimum wage increases are “very concerning” and “may prove unmanageable for some pharmacy owners” grappling with “extreme financial and operational pressures”.
She added that “higher staffing costs will further compound [contractors’] financial troubles” - stressing that it “is critical that the upcoming [contract] negotiations recognise the impact of staff cost rises on pharmacies”.
Read more: Contract negotiations delayed amid government ‘conflict’
Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck said that the budget is “deeply disappointing” and there is “very little [in it] to help community pharmacies keep their doors open”.
She added that the rise in minimum wages “without any support for already struggling businesses will push more branches towards closure”.
Read more: CPE: 60% of pharmacy owners took no earnings last year
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Henry Gregg said that pharmacy staff “are absolutely deserving of a pay rise” but “the increases announced [yesterday] will add significantly to the financial pressures pharmacies are under”.
“Adding four percent-plus to the minimum wage makes the financial mountain they are facing even bigger,” he added.
The NPA urged the government to “address years of underfunding” and “invest in community pharmacies” so they can “avoid staff lay-offs to cover” increased staffing costs.
“Little relief”
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said that the decision to freeze NHS prescription fees is “positive news for patients” - but stressed that this “in no way” benefits pharmacies who instead face “an additional administrative burden”.
The Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network (IPCN) also expressed “deep concern” at the budget, which it said “fails to address and in many respects worsens” the “financial crisis facing independent community pharmacies”.
It pointed out that “not a single line” in the statement “is dedicated to community pharmacy’s financial stability, capacity or strategic role in primary care”.
Read more: Pharmacy bodies present ‘united front’ at Kinnock meeting
“With hospitals struggling, GPs overstretched and NHS waiting lists running into the millions, this budget could have unlocked the most cost-effective solution available to primary care: independent community pharmacies,” it added.
And business property adviser Christie & Co’s head of pharmacy Jonathan Board added that the budget has given contractors “little relief” and “does nothing to address the rising operational costs for pharmacies”.
Read more: DH reveals locations of first 43 neighbourhood health hubs
Meanwhile, Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) director Paul Day said that it will “closely” monitor how the establishment of new NHCs will “impact the current and future pharmacist workforce”.
“It is critical that the workforce of these new neighbourhood centres be listened to in their development and the PDA alongside other health unions will represent members’ views and support members impacted,” it added.
Read more: Morrison: Risk services must be ‘stripped out’ if funding short
It comes after the Treasury last week revealed that the Chancellor is “extending the freeze on NHS prescription charges” in England next year to “keep prescriptions under a tenner”.
And the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) revealed the locations of the first 43 neighbourhood health hubs to be rolled out across the country as part of its 10-year plan for the NHS in September.
