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Numark chair Harry McQuillan has said the Government’s pledge to increase the NHS budget by £29 billion a year over the next three years should pave the way for talks on community pharmacy funding to focus on a multi-year settlement.

McQuillan (pictured) told Independent Community Pharmacist the three per cent rise announced by the chancellor Rachel Reeves in her spending review yesterday should convince the Department of Health and Social Care to at least consider a multi-year deal.

It is expected to start negotiations on 2026-27 funding with Community Pharmacy England in September.

“Now that the three per cent figure is known, it does give the opportunity for a multi-year funding settlement to be considered,” said McQuillan, who convinced the Scottish Government to give the sector a three-year deal just before the Covid lockdown when he was chief executive of Community Pharmacy Scotland.

“It proved to be a shrewd decision for both the network and Government,” he said. “It gave stability, predictability and value at a time of uncertainty and chaos.

“Of course, accepting a multi-year deal comes with its own risks as inflationary and cost pressures have to be estimated. It will come down to the network's attitude to risk and the level of funding available. It might be time to fully consider such an approach.”

McQuillan said the amount of funding that flows into community pharmacy’s global sum from Labour’s £29 billion-a-year increase over the next three years will be “critical”.

Cautioning significant funds are needed to bridge the gap between the cost of providing pharmaceutical services and current funding levels as outlined by the economic review, he said: “I could make a case for the sector receiving higher than that for each of those three years.

“That would make some inroads to close the funding gap fully exposed by the Economic Review and give confidence for the sector to engage and invest.”

RPS president: Pharmacy should get 'fair and sustainable resourcing in the longer term'

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society president Claire Anderson said the boost to NHS funding was “testament to the crucial role of” the health service and “how patient access to care is consistently seen by the public as one of the most pressing issues facing our nation”.

She called for community pharmacy to receive “fair and sustainable resourcing in the longer term to bridge the funding gap so it can deliver the Government’s ambitions”.

Anderson also urged the Government to “consider how to resource and enable pharmacists to help deliver new treatments and support the best use of medicines across the system” as it develops its NHS 10-year plan.

“There are key questions for how pharmacists and all health professions will be enabled to help deliver the NHS of the future,” she said.

“We have seen some welcome progress with Pharmacy First and, with the right support and investment, an enhanced community pharmacist prescribing service will help deliver the Government’s ambition to deliver more care in the community.

“This should come alongside an upgrade to digital systems in hospital pharmacy, including the long overdue roll-out of electronic prescribing.”