Pharmacy funding has fallen £800m in a decade

Community pharmacies in England are receiving £800 million less in funding than they were a decade ago, a government minister has revealed.

Responding toa parliamentary written question, Care Minister Stephen Kinnock said that pharmacy funding for procuring and dispensing NHS medicines alongside other clinical services had fallen since 2015/16.

The figures show that funding provided through the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework has fallen from a real-terms total of £3.86 million in 20215/16 to 3.07 million in 2025/26.

The £800 million drop means that community pharmacy funding is now about 21%less than it was a decade ago.

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In 2025/26, the funding for community pharmacy was increased to £3.1 billion, which represents over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Yet the NHS’s independently commissioned economic analysis revealed a £2bn funding gap.

The Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) said there has also been a net loss of 1,479 bricks and mortar pharmacies since 31 March 2016  – a 13% contraction of the network.

The workload for pharmacists has also increased, with a 16% rise in the number of NHS prescribed medicines being dispensed each year, it added.

The CCA said that while the new funding this year new was welcome it falls short of what the pharmacy network needs to survive.

Its chief executive Malcolm Harrison said stabilising community pharmacy will only be possible with fair funding.

‘Unfortunately, without action, patients will see further pharmacy closures and find it harder to access the medicines they need,’ he added

‘As well as damaging the pharmacy sector, this underfunding significantly limits the NHS’ ability to meet patients’ needs.  Pharmacies could release tens of millions of primary care appointments each year, but this is only possible with funding to stabilise the sector, and further investment so patients can access routine primary care from pharmacies closer to their homes and places of work.’

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National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive, Henry Gregg, said: ‘A decade of cuts has led to serious consequences for patients’ access to care. The funding statistics revealed in parliament this week are further evidence of the need for fresh investment in pharmacies.

‘We are still waiting for negotiations to begin on a new pharmacy contract in England – and we need swift progress in the light of statistics like these and the depressing reality on the ground for pharmacy teams and patients.’

He added that this is an opportunity for the government to fulfil its promises to stabilise the sector and support pharmacies to provide more NHS serves close to where people live, work and shop.

A DHSC spokesperson said: 'These figures show this government is reversing a decade of underfunding and neglect that left the community pharmacy sector on the brink of collapse.

'Community pharmacies are a vital front door to the NHS, which is why this year we provided them with the largest funding uplift for any part of the NHS over the last two years. This will give hard-working pharmacists the tools to offer patients more care closer to home.'

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At the time of the pharmacy funding agreement, the government committed to:

• Stabilise community pharmacy;
• Build on what they have achieved to date;
• Lay the foundations for an independent prescribing service to harness pharmacy’s full potential in the future.

Last week around a third of independent pharmacies in England signed a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting warning that pharmacies are ‘at real risk of imminent closure’ as they approach a ‘looming cliff edge’ of costs in April.