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Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison told the local pharmaceutical committee conference last week that she expects the Government to give the sector a one-year funding deal.

CPE said Morrison (pictured) acknowledged pharmacy contractors “felt stung by the previous multi-year settlement” which ran from 2019 to 2024 as she told LPC representatives a 12-month deal was likely this time round. There is still no word on when discussions covering 2026-27 will begin.

Pharmacy’s negotiator said a short-term deal was “prudent” because of community pharmacy’s “need to continue to influence” the Government’s 10-year NHS plan which is still taking shape.

CPE also said there was “strong support” for a nationally commissioned community pharmacy prescribing service during the conference. It revealed 99 per cent of LPC officials voted that funding for it should come from new investment, not the existing global sum.

However, Morrison warned the conference that a recent meeting with the health minister Stephen Kinnock provided a reminder of the Government’s “tight spending limits, meaning tough choices ahead”.

CPE, though, said she was keen to clarify that pharmacy’s finances needed to be stabilised “before it can fully support NHS ambitions”.

Officials representing 49 out of the 50 LPCs in England attended the conference.