Pharmacy dispensing ‘undervalued, underappreciated and under threat’ says CCA

Pharmacy dispensing faces ‘unsustainable pressure’ and is ‘undervalued’, despite preventing 610,000 prescribing errors last year, according to a new report from the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA).

The report - The Value of Community Pharmacy Dispensing - highlights how community pharmacy dispensing is the ‘backbone’ of accessible, safe and equitable healthcare.

It said that pharmacies dispense 1.15 billion items annually and the volume of NHS-prescribed medicines has surged by 17% in the last decade.

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However, the national dispensing fee has only increased by 21p, despite inflation rising by almost 35% over this period.

Chief executive of the CCA, Malcom Harrison, said: ‘The report underscores the vital role of community pharmacies today and the critical role they will play in helping to deliver the government’s 10-year plan.

‘Dispensing, whilst often undervalued and overlooked, provides enormous benefits to patients, the NHS and taxpayers. Community pharmacies remain the cornerstone of local, accessible, high-quality healthcare, yet mounting pressures threaten their ability to fulfil this role.’

The CCA found that over 90% of England’s population live within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy and patients visit pharmacies up to 12 times more frequently than GPs. Yet pharmacy workforce shortages persist, with more than one in four pharmacist roles vacant in some regions.

Despite rising demand, the total size of the full-time equivalent community pharmacy workforce decreased by 2% between 2017 and 2024, said the report. It added that over the same period, the size of the NHS managed sector increased by over 28%.

The CCA is urging the government to:

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• Invest in dispensing and secure the future of community pharmacy;
• Ensure a robust future pharmacy workforce;
• Give pharmacists access to a single, shared patient record.

Reviewing the prices the NHS pays for medicines will help the UK compete in a global market, and this should include an increase to the retained margin available to pharmacies, the report said.

It also expressed support for pharmacist ‘flexibilities’ which could allow pharmacists to make minor changes to resolve challenges with medicines shortages.

It said access to a single patient record would support informed decisions and make better use of pharmacy data – such as information about non-adherence, advice provided, or potential medicine overuse.

Mr Harrison added: ‘Decades of underfunding have weakened the sector, and without urgent investment and reform, patient access to essential services will be at risk.’

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In response to the report, CEO of Community Pharmacy England (CPE), Janet Morrison, said: 'This new CCA report provides yet more evidence of what community pharmacy teams experience every day: dispensing is a critical and highly skilled service that delivers enormous value to patients, the NHS and wider society. But it also confirms the stark reality that this essential service is under extreme pressure after years of underfunding.

'Sustained investment, fairer reimbursement arrangements, and operational reforms are urgently needed to keep pharmacies open and patients safe. CPE will use evidence like this to press government for meaningful action.'