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The Government's plans to save £1bn a year through slashing the budgets of integrated care boards and halving their workforce present a "huge opportunity" to address the pharmacy sector's funding crisis, the National Pharmacy Association has said. 

Last night (November 11) health secretary Wes Streeting announced a major restructure of how health services are administered in England, with over 18,000 jobs to be cut and a projected £1bn to be saved each year by the end of this parliament - with Mr Streeting saying this money will be redirected to frontline care.

This forms part of a wider drive to make £17bn savings from departmental budgets.

The announcement, made ahead of next week's autumn budget, provided more detail on Mr Streeting's reform plans and a timeline for scrapping NHS England as an organisation, with the health secretary stating this will be achieved within two years.

Labour claimed the move would "give more power and autonomy to local leaders and systems" by "stripping away endless red tape and bureaucracy".

Addressing the NHS providers conference in Manchester, Mr Streeting said: “We’re now pushing down on the accelerator and slashing unnecessary bureaucracy, to reinvest the savings in frontline care. 

"It won’t happen overnight, but with our investment and modernisation, we will rebuild our NHS so it is there for you when you need it once again.”

National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg commented: “We’re strongly in favour of diverting funding to the front line of care in our communities.

“Despite a funding increase in the spring. pharmacies are still facing the legacy of historic underfunding that has closed thousands of pharmacies.

“There is a huge opportunity to increase healthcare for people in pharmacies on their doorstep with modest investment.

"That will ease pressure across the NHS, unlock GP and hospital appointments and make it easier for people to get fast treatment and health advice to prevent disease.” 

RPS: 'Profound concerns'

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society struck a more cautious note, with RPS England chair Tase Oputu commenting: “Pharmacists and pharmacy teams are essential to delivering the ambitions of the 10-Year Health Plan. 

"However, the Government’s announcement of the go-ahead for significant cuts to ICBs raises profound concerns about the sustainability of our workforce, the wellbeing of medicines optimisation staff and ultimately, the safety and quality of patient care."

Ms Oputu said ICB pharmacists and medicines optimisation teams are "integral to achieving medicines value and improving population health at a local level," adding: “Removing or diminishing this function risks eroding the very foundation that enables patients to receive the right medicines, at the right time, in the right way. 

"These roles are not ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’ or ‘administrative posts’; they are essential to delivering system-wide efficiency and equity in care. 

“We urge decision-makers to recognise that cutting medicines optimisation capacity is not a saving; it is a false economy that jeopardises patient outcomes and the resilience of the NHS.”

Related: NHSE tells ICBs to increase pharmacies’ roles over next three years