Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that community pharmacies are adequately funded to maintain opening hours and patient access.

In 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This included funding for the Pharmacy Access Scheme, which provides additional funding to more isolated pharmacies to support patient access.

The Department is currently consulting with Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27. As part of this we will consider financial pressures on the sector.