The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, recently gave a speech on the newly elected Government's priorities for the NHS: Prevention: because prevention is better than cure People: because we need more people working smarter Technology: because patients and clinicians demand better Infrastructure: because buildings matter too. The following extract from the speech relates to Community Pharmacy and the prevention priority building on the Healthy Living Pharmacy … [Read more...] about A new year, a new Government, a new NHS… what’s new for community pharmacy?
Leadership
New Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-2024
The English community pharmacy funding settlement for the next five years has been announced the first time that we have agreed a multi-year settlement. The agreement, set out in the new Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) which commences on 1st October 2019, aims to build on the clinical skills of community pharmacists and their teams which must be seen as a positive step. The Headlines Funding: The contract sum will remain unchanged at £2.592 billion until the end of … [Read more...] about New Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-2024
Planning for a sustainable future
The announcement of the funding settlement for the remainder of the 2018/19 financial year will not be well received by pharmacy owners in England. That, together with reinstatement of the temporarily postponed Category M overspend recovery, will create further cashflow and sustainability challenges for many owners, particularly independents. Unfortunately, this was predictable on the back of almost three lost years whilst the judicial review of the previously imposed and poorly implemented … [Read more...] about Planning for a sustainable future
SMARTER Goals
Most of us have come across the acronym SMART when developing goals or making plans, but how many of us have made these goals and plans SMARTER? So often our life or business goals are not sufficiently specific or measurable and many do not have an 'achieve by' timeline all of which are critical to achieving those goals. Even if these elements are all in place, we often fail to measure whether we are on track to achieve or have achieved the desired goals. This is where the ER in SMARTER comes … [Read more...] about SMARTER Goals
Beyond the JRs
The Judicial Reviews challenging the cuts have been dismissed. The judge’s view was that they were not unlawful and, in the context of the £22billion funding gap faced by the NHS, the cuts were inevitable. The Department of Health got a rap on the knuckles for poor process and limited disclosure of facts, but the fact is, the cuts are here to stay. So what does that mean for community pharmacy owners? The pain has already been felt from the initial reduction in fees and the impact that has … [Read more...] about Beyond the JRs