Day Lewis executive director Sam Patel today (October 12) said that to secure a “great” 2026/27 funding deal, some “tweaks” must be made to the previous contract.
Speaking at the Pharmacy Show in Birmingham, he told delegates that he “[doesn’t] believe the answer is suddenly to put a line through” the contract as it currently stands.
Instead, he argued that change could be made through “evolution”, “practical improvements” and “some tweaks”.
Read more: CPE asks pharmacies for steer on 2026/27 contract ‘priorities’
Patel was speaking in response to a question from Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck on whether the sector is in need of a “new contract”.
“I think there are some tweaks” the sector can “be looking to make”, he said, arguing for example that “all the money that’s allocated to Pharmacy First should be committed” to it.
Read more: All the headlines: Community pharmacy funding deal
Patel explained that when the pharmacy quality scheme (PQS) was originally launched, the government said, “this is the pot of money, go and do the service, and whoever doesn’t do the service, all of that money will be reallocated back to those that do it”.
And he suggested that if the “same” is done for Pharmacy First, “all the money that’s unspent on Pharmacy First...[could] be reallocated back to those pharmacies” that have offered the service.
“Not perfect by any means”
It comes after Community Pharmacy England (CPE) launched a “summer survey” in August to gather the sector’s views on “potential funding allocations, service priorities and regulatory asks” ahead of negotiations for the 2026/27 pharmacy contract.
Meanwhile, when the outcome of funding negotiations was revealed at the end of March, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock acknowledged that the contract was “not perfect by any means”.
“I know it’s not perfect by any means, and, of course, the sector is under tremendous financial pressure, but these measures we’re announcing today will go a long way to mitigating those pressures, helping to get the sector back onto an even keel,” he said at the time.
