Written question WQ96449
- Asked by
- Janet Finch-SaundersConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 9 days
Question
How is the Cabinet Secretary ensuring that support is provided to pharmacies experiencing an increase in patients?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Welsh Government values the hard work and contribution pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy teams make to delivering NHS services in Wales, this is why we are making record levels of investment in the sector.
In 2024-25, Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) funding was increased by 9.9m (6%) recurrently with a further additional £6m available as a one-off stabilisation payment at the end of the 2024-25 financial year.
This considerable investment supports the long-term sustainability of pharmacies, helping to ensure the NHS maximises the use of the skills and expertise of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and the wider pharmacy team in every community in Wales.
Officials are working with health boards to progress the recommendations made in the 2022 Review of Dispensing Volumes report, in particular the recommendation to increase prescription periods of treatment and good progress has been made to increase periods of treatment in some areas.
Negotiations are currently underway for the 2025-26 CPCF and a further update will be provided in due course on the detail of the agreement reached between Community Pharmacy Wales, NHS Wales and the Welsh Government.