Community Pharmacy Devon Weekly Dose 💊

Thursday 16th July 2026

Welcome to your weekly injection of local and national pharmacy news. As always, if you have any feedback or comments, please contact us by email at admin@cpdevon.org.uk.

PQS Aspiration Payment Window Open

The PQS Aspiration Payment window is now open and will close on 28th July 2026 at 11.59pm.

Contractors wishing to claim will need to make a declaration to the NHSBSA using MYS and indicate which domains they intend to achieve before the end of the declaration period to ensure that pharmacy owners receive payment on 1st September 2026.

Please see the CPE website for more information here.

Community Pharmacies Under Unprecedented Pressure Survey Shows

The latest Pressures Survey has revealed the growing challenges facing community pharmacies.

The survey showed that three-quarters (75%) of community pharmacies are now operating at a loss, while only 14% report being profitable. Rising operational costs continue to place enormous pressure on pharmacy businesses, and almost all respondents (99%) say that medicine reimbursement prices fail to cover the true cost of supplying medicines.

The impact is also being felt in the services available to patients. Forty-two percent of pharmacies have reduced their opening hours, while some have had to scale back or discontinue vital services such as vaccinations and Pharmacy First.

76% of pharmacies report further impacts, including longer waiting times, delays in accessing medicines, and reduced ability to respond to patient needs. At the same time, medicine shortages remain a major challenge, with 86% of pharmacies spending more time sourcing medicines than they did in previous years.

The survey findings reinforce the urgent need for sustainable funding and support for community pharmacies. As essential healthcare providers at the heart of local communities, pharmacies play a crucial role in ensuring patients can access medicines, advice, and clinical services when they need them most. Without action, the pressures documented in this survey are likely to continue affecting both pharmacy businesses and the patients they serve.

Local pharmacy owners may like to contact their MP and host a visit to their pharmacy during the summer recess; please get in touch with the Secretariat Team if you would like any help in this regard.

For more information about the findings from the survey and various resources check out the CPE website.

Take Part: Help Raise Awareness of the Pressures

Community Pharmacy England has been working to secure national media coverage of the pressures survey findings, and they will also be briefing MPs from the national perspective. All of this forms part of their ongoing work to make the case for a sustainable future for community pharmacy.

Pharmacy owners are encouraged to support this work and could consider the following actions:

Write to your MP and ask them to visit your pharmacy to learn firsthand about the mounting challenges. You can use CPE's latest Local MP Engagement Guide and could also send them the link to the animation or MP Briefing Note.
Add your voice on social media. Please look out for posts from @CommPharmEngland and repost these, or add your comments. You could also post about CPE's animation or infographic or use their Social Media Guide, which includes suggested copy and social media assets to help you.
Support CPE's media work. You can add your name to their list of media spokespeople by emailing comms.team@cpe.org.uk or use their Media Interviews Guidance if you are asked to comment on the survey findings.

Waythrough National Newsletter for Community Pharmacies

The latest edition of the Waythrough newletter for community pharmacies providing substance use services has just been published. This edition includes:

FP10 MDA instalment prescriptions – helpful dispensing and endorsement reminders.
The focus on methadone.
International Overdose Awareness Day.
Good practice feedback.
Did you know? Reporting Controlled Drug (CD) incidents to local services and the CDLIN.
Local services updates.

All of Waythrough's community pharmacy newsletters are also available on their website: the specific service updates are relevant for those pharmacies providing services in Exeter, Mid, North, East and South Devon but the broader articles will be of interest to all pharmacy teams.

Safeguarding update: Devon front door, Tuesday 28 July, 1pm

The Primary Care Safeguarding Team are hosting a dedicated safeguarding update session focusing on the Devon Front Door (formerly MASH – Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub).

This session is open to all clinicians in General Practice working in Devon Local authority area (Not Plymouth or Torbay). The session will provide valuable insight into how referrals are managed, decision-making processes within the Front Door, contacts and referral pathways.

Session details:

Date: Tuesday 28 July
Time: 1-1.45pm
Format: Via MSTeams
30-minute presentation
15-minute Q&A

This is an excellent opportunity to:

Strengthen your understanding of how safeguarding concerns are triaged and managed
Clarify referral pathways and contacts
Ask questions directly to the Devon Front Door service.

Any questions, please contact D-icb.SafeGuardPrimeCare@nhs.net