Pharmacies face an additional £275m costs in 2026, NPA warns

Pharmacies in England face ‘at least £275m’ of additional costs next year, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned.

An 8.9% uplift in NHS funding – the level of increase set out in the 2025/26 General Medical Services (GMS) contract for GPs – would only cover inflation, increased wage costs due to a rise in the national living wage, and ongoing growth in prescription volume, according to the NPA’s analysis.

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Anything less could result in ‘damaging cuts’ to local NHS services and increased pressure on GPs, despite the government’s pledge to move health services into communities in the 10-year health plan.

The additional costs facing pharmacies include at least £159m to cover increasing wage costs and other inflationary pressures, and at least £104m to cover growing prescription numbers.

Despite a 19% increase in funding for the sector in April, Ministers admitted that this figure did not fill the gap left by 40% real terms cuts over the previous decade. And despite the rise, government funding fell £2.6bn short of the cost of providing NHS services.

Henry Gregg, Chief Executive of the NPA, said: ‘Pharmacies stand ready to help the government move care from hospitals into our communities as expert health centres on the high street. Expanding their role can ease pressure on the rest of the NHS and make it easier to get treatment and advice.

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‘Pharmacy funding has been badly eroded over the past decade, causing hundreds of pharmacies to close and forcing many more onto their knees. We need to be clear about the scale of increasing costs facing pharmacies this coming financial year and the ongoing fact that the health service doesn’t cover the full cost of NHS pharmacy, so we can build up this vital service, not allow it to be further eroded.

Mr Gregg added that investing in pharmacies would lead to better services for patients, healthier communities and reduced cost and pressures on the NHS, which is why it is so important to invest in the future of pharmacy. ‘Without it, the Government cannot achieve its aims to transform our NHS.’

Community Pharmacy England’s (CPE’s) chief executive, Janet Morrison, recently said her top priority ahead of pharmacy contract negotiations was stabilising the sector and bridging the funding gap.

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‘You can’t keep adding more and more’ services to a ‘collapsing’ industry, she said at the Sigma UK Conference on 9 November.

This was a key focus of CPE’s recent committee meeting which considered preparations for upcoming pharmacy contract negotiations with Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) representatives.