‘No plans’ to nationalise community pharmacy, Labour clarifies

The Labour Party has ‘no plans’ to nationalise community pharmacies, it has told the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).

This week (4 November), concerns were raised in the sector after shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he wanted to bring pharmaceutical provision ‘in-house’ in a radio interview with LBC.

The NPA said today (8 November) that it has ‘received confirmation from an official source that Labour has no plans to bring community pharmacies into public ownership’.

The Labour Party clarified that Mr McDonnell was referring to ‘hospital pharmacies run by private companies’ rather than community pharmacies, the NPA said.

‘Public service ethos’

An NPA spokesperson added: ‘We also took the opportunity to remind Labour that many pharmacies are family owned small to medium sized businesses, providing vital NHS services and employing between them thousands of people.

‘As such, they combine a deeply felt public service ethos with the responsiveness and innovation typically associated with private enterprise.’

In 2017, Labour pledged in its leaked manifesto to ‘halt pharmacy closures’ and reverse privatisation of the NHS if elected.

Last year, more than 100,000 people marched across the country to ‘save the NHS’ from privatisation and funding cuts, with more than 60,000 protesters in London alone.