Negotiations on community pharmacy’s 2026/27 funding contract have commenced, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) announced on Friday.
CPE said the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) entered consultation with the negotiator last week after sending a letter “signalling the start of the formal negotiations process”.
Read more: CPE shares contract negotiation timeline update
“Detailed discussions begin immediately and will cover funding, service changes and other arrangements for pharmacies in 2026/27, as well as presenting an opportunity to consider longer term plans for the sector,” it added.
CPE noted that there is “limited time available before the start of the financial year”, but said “care must be taken to push for the best possible deal for the sector”.
Vital discussions
CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said the start of negotiations “has been long awaited by everyone in the sector” and CPE “has been ready for these vital discussions for some time”.
“Pressures on community pharmacies are at a critical level, and decisive action is urgently needed,” she added.
She said CPE has “set out clear negotiating priorities and red lines” and will “carefully scrutinise the government’s proposals against these”.
Read more: ‘Depressing’: pharmacies funded a ‘brutal’ £800m less than decade ago
The body will also “keep working to mold any reforms into measures that are in the best interests of community pharmacies”, she added.
“Our focus remains on securing a contract that recognises the essential role pharmacies play in primary care, supports those who are struggling, and provides a long-term pathway to sustainability and growth.”
No “rushed settlement”
The Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network (IPCN) said the outcome of the negotiations “will be pivotal not only for the next financial year, but for the long-term stability and viability of community pharmacy in England”.
It stressed that while April 1 “is only weeks away”, the body “believes that securing the right settlement is more important than securing a rushed settlement”.
Read more: Should England look to Scotland for a pharmacy funding lesson?
“A short delay in finalisation is preferable to a multi-year agreement that fails to address structural underfunding or sustainability,” it said. “This negotiation cycle must not be driven solely by the calendar.”
IPCN added that “short-term thinking must not be allowed to supplant the long-term strategic interests of the sector”, and said it “will fight any attempt to do so”.
Promises into action
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said the government last year “committed to stabilising community pharmacy and laying the foundations for an independent prescribing service”.
The 2026/27 framework “must now turn those promises into action by beginning to close the funding gap and delivering fair funding”, he stressed.
Read more: Morrison: Next pharmacy contract ‘expected’ to be one-year deal
He said that with the right funding, there is “strong potential for community pharmacy to become the go-to destination for routine primary care, prevention and long-term condition management, helping to ease pressures on the wider NHS”.
And he added that negotiations “must recognise both community pharmacy’s perilous financial position and transformative potential”, and “translate this into sustainable funding to future-proof the sector and to support their own reformative plans for the NHS”.
It comes after CPE revealed that the timeline to “conclude and implement” negotiations for the 2026/27 funding deal will run from April to July.
