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My hope for 2026 is if we feel the terms the funding negotiations are not acceptable, we come together to push back firmly with a clear ‘no’, says Nick Kaye…

In England, I cannot imagine us getting any more than an inflationary increase after the first increase for core funding of just over 19 per cent last year after a decade of cuts.

If the increase this time round is no more than inflationary, then the gap to the independent economic review will just widen. I hope that those with the job of negotiating will not accept anything less than an above inflation rise.

I also think this is the time to fundamentally look at our contract. As service income groups, we absolutely need to think of a different way to be paid for dispensing.

We can no longer rely on the system of an average price and claim back. In an average system, at least 50 per cent of us will be losing. Think about that. It’s scary. Half of us will be being paid below the average!

Someone near you is taking weight loss medications

As a sector, we are moving more towards private income streams and we all need to be thinking about this and what works best for the community we serve. I have heard people challenge this thinking and say ‘this won’t work in my area’. And I absolutely agree that some areas will find it easier than others to drive economic activity from private services.

However, with over two million people a month taking weight loss injections, no matter what your socio-economic mix is, someone near you is taking those medications and why are they not accessing them from your pharmacy? They should be because you provide great care.

I also think the pressure on NHS income will drive innovation and community pharmacy could and should be a driving force in that space. We know that give us a service, it’s within our gift to drive it. It’s not relevant that another provider might be the gatekeeper. We can and will deliver the service.

I see great work is being done in the cancer referral projects in Cornwall, starting at eight sites and now at 20, with the hope of building it around all 90 pharmacies. Why? Because the amazing pharmacy teams on the ground care about their patients and give great service. Frankly, we are saving lives.

Even when times are tough, I have always been amazed by the inspirational ways teams conduct themselves.

In situations, such as the flu spike at the end of last year, I saw on WhatsApp groups I’m on in Cornwall, the Isle of Man, the north-east and the south teams giving advice and helping to keep services running. That meant people received treatment.

When Storm Goretti tore through Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, lots of care between different organisations and businesses that are normally in competition was great to see. This co-operation and togetherness is not only what is needed at a local level as we jump into the world of integrated neighbourhood teams but it’s also what is needed at a national level.

We must join together for the unity of the sector on the big issues. Yes, we can agree to disagree but this should be within the sector. But no matter what tribe you are in, we are all part of the wider family of pharmacy.

My hope for 2026 is that whatever the outcome of the funding negotiations, we can come together to say with a clear voice that if we feel the terms we are given are not acceptable, we push back firmly with a clear ‘no’.

Mind you, I guess I would say that as the only chair in the National Pharmacy Association’s history to ballot its membership on industrial action.

Whatever the year ahead has in store, I hope for you it brings, professional fulfilment and personal happiness.

Nick Kaye is a National Pharmacy Association board member and pharmacist based in Newquay. These are his personal views.