New pharmacy and medicines ministers confirmed

MP Stephen Kinnock will be the government minister with responsibility for pharmacy and general practice, under the title of minister of state for care, it has been announced.

Meanwhile, minister of state for health Karin Smyth will take responsibility for medicines regulation, pricing and supply, as well as prescribing.

Mr Kinnock, MP for Aberafan Maesteg, Wales, was appointed as a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 9 July.

In a post on X this morning he said he had already had a ‘busy first week’, and committed to ‘working relentlessly to address challenges and seize opportunities for change across the portfolio’.

Busy first week in my new role as Minister of State for Care @DHSCgovuk, covering adult social care, primary care and community care.

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We'll be working relentlessly to address challenges and seize opportunities for change across the portfolio, so watch this space! 👍 #teamwork pic.twitter.com/a4vnz8zVyI

— Stephen Kinnock (@SKinnock) July 12, 2024

Mr Kinnock’s portfolio covers adult social care; hospital and community discharge; health and social care integration; dementia; primary care – including general practice, pharmacy, eye care and dentistry; community health, including neighbourhood health services; end of life and palliative care; and disabilities and special educational needs.

Previously, there had been a separate minister for social care and a separate one for primary care.

MP Karin Smyth to lead medicines supply work

Meanwhile Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, will take responsibility for medicines regulation, pricing and supply, as well as prescribing, in her role as minister of state for health (secondary care).

The former non-executive director of a primary care trust will also oversee:

• system reconfigurations and improvement
• commissioning
• elective care
• NHS workforce
• NHS data and technology
• NHS capital, land and estates
• supply threats and disruption
• urgent and emergency care – including NHS 111, hospital at home services and winter planning
• sponsorship of:
  • NHS England
  • NHS Counter Fraud Authority
  • NHS Property Services
  • NHS Business Services Authority
  • Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Community pharmacist Ade Williams showed his support for Ms Smyth on X, sharing that in 2019 she had nominated him for an NHS Parliamentary Award, which he won.

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Really pleased that @karinsmyth has been appointed Health Minister. https://t.co/C7TeDjk3e0

— Ade Williams (@adewilliamsnhs) July 8, 2024

The pair will be working under health secretary Wes Streeting within the new Labour government, following last week’s general election.

Mr Streeting has pledged his ambition to make the UK health sector a source of economic growth rather than government expenditure, and ‘a life sciences and medical technology powerhouse’.

And he has said previously that ‘primary care as a proportion of the NHS budget ought to increase’.

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‘Primary care generally, [and] general practice specifically, has a lot to look forward to if there is a Labour government after the next general election,’ he told journalists last month.

As shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting told delegates at the Labour party conference last autumn that he wanted to see a ‘greater role’ for community pharmacy in delivering more patient care.

And the Labour party have pledged to develop a community pharmacy prescribing service.