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The National Pharmacy Association chair Olivier Picard has not ruled out the possibility that its pharmacist members could take collective action such as reducing their hours or services if the Government fails to improve community pharmacy's funding in the next round of talks expected later this year.

Speaking at the Sigma Pharmaceuticals conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, Picard (pictured) indicated that action remained an option after the Government and Community Pharmacy England agreed a deal for 2025-26 which, although regarded as a "positive first step" by the NPA, has left the sector facing "vast underfunding" which he insisted needed to be closed as soon as possible.

According to an independent economic analysis commissioned by NHS England, pharmacies in England have been left with a funding black hole that could be as big as £2.7 billion. The NPA, whose members voted overwhelmingly for collective action, recently chose not to press ahead with it but Picard appeared to leave the option on the table.

I've heard a lot of people say 'has the NPA been deterred?'

When asked why the NPA chose not to progress collective action among its members given its deep concerns about the 2025-26 funding settlement, Picard told Independent Community Pharmacist: "When you campaign, you have to adapt and adjust the speed of the campaign according to traffic and I've heard a lot of people say 'has the NPA been deterred?'

"The NPA has changed lane. We were in the fast lane, we campaigned hard, we believe it's made a difference to what's been put on the table."

Responding to the question of whether the NPA will proceed with collective action in future, for instance if the terms of the 2026-27 funding deal, the talks of which are anticipated to start in September, are not good enough, Picard said: "The NPA needs to be able to talk to ministers, it needs to be able to talk to policymakers, we need to be able to talk to DH about contract reform and what that might look like.

"In order to do that, we have to adapt to the speed at which we travel at. We see it with the BMA (British Medical Association). They have a similar approach where they will come up with actions, they will come up with threats, then they will throw down, they will wait, they will talk to the Government and then they will elevate what they do. And I think the NPA is exactly in that space.

"It is hard to keep a campaign going at full speed all the time. We need to give the ministers and CPE a chance to get something meaningful for the sector. But come the outcome of the next round of negotiations - we get it from you guys, we read it in the press, we don't get information ahead of time - at that time, the NPA will act in the best interests of members and independent pharmacies."

Financial black hole must be closed as soon as possible

Picard conceded the financial black hole exposed by the anaysis "couldn't have been bridged in one year" but warned it needs to be closed as quickly as possible to prevent more pharmacies closing. The NPA said four pharmacies closed each week on average in England in 2024.

"The danger as we see it at the NPA is, say we had a single digit percentage increase every year for the next three years, the gap between the numbers in the economic anaysis will just grow," he said. "It will just keep getting bigger. Whilst we recognise this was a step in the right direction, unfortunately it didn't address the funding crisis.

"We've had people who have borrowed money from their pensions, remortgaged their homes. I've heard harrowing stories from people who have taken drastic measures with the expectation that something will come. Unfortunately, what came was way short."

NPA intends to 'hold CPE to account' - but will back them too

He insisted the NPA intends to "hold Community Pharmacy England to account" but reserved criticism of the negotiator by suggesting it was "important" to recognise that it "doesn't negotiate the contract, it negotiates what the Government says will be made available".

"It is our intention to work with CPE to try and get the best deal for independents," Picard said. "CPE has the backing of the NPA to continue working with ministers and policymakers so the contract and the gap between where we are and where we need to be is bridged as quickly as possible."

He said Labour's spending review, which is expected to be published in the summer, "will give us an indication of how quickly that might be".

"The funding situation is difficult to say the least. As we know, the economic analysis has shown a vast underfunding of the sector," he said. "Workforce challenges and medicines shortages have become entrenched problems in iur daily lives and it will need a lot of reform in our contract to address these challenges and the others that we face in our pharmacies.

"At the NPA, we intend to continue campaigning for community pharmacy as strongly as ever, whether that's in parliament, in the media or building a case for change for the sector. We have a deal that injects new money and hopefully a degree of hope for some. But this deal falls way short of where we need to be."

Picard used the conference to unveil the NPA's condensed 20-page summarised version of the report outlining the findings of the economic analysis for its members. The original report contained over 100 pages.

Pharmacists would be 'mad' to miss out on private services

Picard also urged pharmacies to consider rolling out private services to generate revenue as they struggle to keep going on NHS income.

"The future really lies at the heart of the NHS and an integrated part of offering NHS services and helping with NHS priorities but sadly, the funding shortfall means we also have to look to private services, as I have done," he said, insisting private services have generated hundreds of thousands of pounds across his four pharmacies.

"I'm already looking forward, whether that's dermatology, cosmetic independent prescribing, phlebotomy, the list is almost endless. Life is full of opportunities and as a profession and as business owner, I think we would be mad to let them go by."

Picard said he was concerned community pharmacy's highly publicised financial struggles is putting people off a career in the profession and insisted neither of his two children, aged 15 and 17, want to study pharmacy.

"I think that's disappointing but also sad. We're leaking workforce to the rest of the health service - GPs, PCN hospitals - and that's not great either, Where else would you get the opportunity to run your own business, do what you want to do and, more importantly, do it for your patients?" he said.

"You can try it behind closed doors or in an office but I guarantee you, it wouldn't be as much fun as it is from a community pharmacy."