Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash
Responding to PSNC’s announcement today that they have reached a deal with HM Government about Covid costs incurred by community pharmacies, NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said:
“It’s good that the government has finally listened to our repeated appeals for a decision about how Covid costs will be repaid to pharmacies in England.
We look forward to examining the fine print of these arrangements.
“It shouldn’t have taken battle buses, petitions, newspaper campaigns and public protests by NPA members to get us to this point.
“We have persistently pressed the government in private and held them to account in public on this matter.
“We also acknowledge the many MPs who have backed us in parliament, including the All Party Pharmacy Group.
“This is no more than our members deserve – after all pharmacies bore Covid costs in good faith that they would be repaid, in the service of the nation.
“It’s now really important that contractors claim all that is due to them within the July 5 – August 15 window. The NPA will provide support and guidance to our members, most of whom do not have a big back-office to carry out the task of accounting for costs.
“We’re pleased that the issue of Covid costs is at last being addressed, but attention must also be given to fixing the pharmacy contract in England, which remains seriously underfunded.”