Pharmacy owners have until the end of Monday 8 September to inform upcoming Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations via Community Pharmacy England’s (CPE’s) survey.
The survey is gathering opinions on the current outlook for pharmacy businesses and the ongoing pressures they face.
It asks pharmacy owners to share ideas for contractual reform, prioritisation for funding allocations, and potential regulatory changes to ease operational challenges.
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CPE wants to know which services should be commissioned or developed next and the deliverability of elements of the 10-Year Health Plan.
This is pharmacy owners’ opportunity to ‘influence negotiations and ensure changes to the CPCF reflect frontline realities and ambitions’, said CPE in a statement on its website.
This is particularly important considering the financial pressures that pharmacies are facing.
The CPE Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2025 revealed pharmacy owners’ ongoing struggle to keep their businesses afloat in the wake of medicine supply issues, inflation, rising operational costs, and increasing staff wages.
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Of the over 800 pharmacy owners polled, 45% reported dipping into their personal savings to support their business and even after the funding settlement, only 9% said the threats to their business were manageable.
In a statement recently published on CPE’s website, its chief executive Janet Morrison said: ‘All of this is very much at the front of our minds as we prepare for the next round of CPCF negotiations.’
The CPCF for 2025/26 saw a £3.073bn deal agreed for the sector, with a further £215m available for contractors to earn through Pharmacy First, blood pressure and contraception services.
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The medicines margin for 2025/26 was also increased to £900m and the single activity fee (SAF) was increased by 19p, effective from April 2025.
The survey closes as 11.59pm on Monday 8 September and can be completed here.
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