Cormac Tobin – Managing Director, Celesio UK
When the Government first laid out plans to cut pharmacy funding back in December last year, it was billed as being part of a wider objective to transform community pharmacy. Now that the cuts have been confirmed, it’s very apparent that this strategy has failed.
All we’ve been left with is a reduction in funding and a weakening of our country’s primary care sector.
With seemingly no real intention of engaging with and listening to our industry, the government were determined to follow through with their proposals regardless of expert opinion and considerable opposition. Proposals of how community pharmacy could save the NHS money were dismissed out of hand, signalling an apparent lack of consideration of the bigger picture.
To say that details of the final funding package were disappointing would be a massive understatement.
However, now that we’ve had a short while to reflect on this announcement, it’s clear that we must continue to realise our vision outlined in the Community Pharmacy Forward View. I’m extremely proud to be part of a sector which came together to define our future direction, led a campaign which resulted in 2.2 million signatures delivered into Number 10, started several debates in Parliament and drew broad support from patient groups, local government and other health professions. We must use this energy to tackle the future challenges that these swingeing cuts are certain to bring to our sector.
There are more than 11,600 pharmacies in England, run by expert healthcare professionals who are passionate, highly skilled, committed and clinically trained to take on a greater role in UK healthcare. As we head into winter, this is a critical time of year for our NHS, and the pressure on GPs and A&E surgeries is sure to reach boiling point. Not a great time to force community pharmacy out in the cold.
It will be interesting to see whether the government comes to rue their recklessness and ultimately regret this decision. Or whether they will reconsider and show commitment to working with us to enhance the profession, release the genius of pharmacists and relieve pressure on the wider health system.
Cormac Tobin
About Cormac:
Cormac Tobin is the Managing Director of leading healthcare provider Celesio UK, which includes LloydsPharmacy. He was appointed to the role in 2013 and has overseen a number of innovations within LloydsPharmacy, including a brand new pharmacy design concept. He has been outspoken in condemning the cuts to pharmacy funding and supporting community pharmacy as a whole.
