Mowat

Cuts and more cuts

Wednesday November 2

I am at the LPC Conference at the Congress Centre in London today and am surprised the health minister, David Mowat, attends and is robust in announcing that cuts will go ahead in the face of a lukewarm reception from delegates. He states an intention to move community pharmacy into a future shaped around services largely commissioned locally, admitting that this will be easier to bring about in some areas than others.

Sue Sharpe speaks of betrayal by the DH’s disregard of the value of community pharmacy and dismissal of concerns of patients who rely on the care provided by community pharmacy teams.

Celesio boss calls for national minor ailments scheme before it's "too late"

Community pharmacy is "hiding in plain sight to help solve the hospital crisis", says Cormac Tobin

Celesio boss calls for national minor ailments scheme before it's "too late"

Community pharmacy is "hiding in plain sight to help solve the hospital crisis", says Cormac Tobin

Looking on the bright side

Pharmacy Voice chair Claire Ward urges independents to think positively after funding cuts shock

The way forward

Claire Ward considers what contractors might do next after funding cuts

What now?

Funding cuts go ahead against best advice

Presented with a fait accompli

It was gratifying to see the media coverage of the government’s cost-cutting measures for community pharmacy this past week or so. No matter that the spokeswoman from Pharmacy Voice on Radio 4’s Today programme seemed a bit nervous, the message was clear: community pharmacy is facing big cuts and pharmacies will close.

Establishment payments will reduce from December, with a 12 per cent cut in the global sum from December to March, followed by a 7.4 per cent cut in 2017-18. The pharmacy minister, David Mowat, calls them ‘efficiency savings.’ They are weasel words.

Campaign to secure your future

Ian Strachan provides an update on the NPA campaign

A state secret?

I wonder how many of us knew that NHS England has a head of community pharmacy strategy. Her name is Anne Joshua; however, in her biography I can’t find any mention of experience of working in or with community pharmacy, or even primary care. Previously, she worked for 10 years as the associate director of pharmacy leading the Health and Medicines Information Service at NHS Direct, before becoming the NHS England pharmacist lead for the NHS 111 Digital Urgent Care programme.

I wouldn’t hold any of that against her, and I have no reason to believe that she did anything other than a first-class job in these roles, but ...

A shocking disciplinary case

I was shocked to read that the nurse who contracted Ebola while working to save lives in West Africa ended up before a nursing disciplinary tribunal. Pauline Cafferkey has endured great suffering as a result of being infected by the virus when helping those in great need, so to be up before the tribunal on a technicality beggars belief. It was suggested that she might have been guilty of professional misconduct by concealing a raised temperature when she got back to Heathrow airport from Sierra Leone.

No contractor immune to cuts, says Celesio

Celesio's Cormac Tobin calls government handling of funding cuts "grossly disingenuous"

Government imposes funding cut

PSNC criticises government's "short-sighted and ill-judged" imposition of funding cuts

PSNC rejects DH 12% funding cut

PSNC rejects "reckless" proposed funding package for 2016/17

NPA criticises "contradiction" in DH position

NPA chairman Ian Strachan calls announcement of pilot scheme a "smokescreen"

Disappointment that emergency scheme only pilot

Urgent repeat medicines scheme will only be a pilot

Turning the tanker

The editor's comment, September 2016