Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) has welcomed the Welsh Government’s statistical release published on 12 March 2026, Community pharmacy services: April 2024 to March 2025, and in particular the acknowledgement that dispensing prescription items remains community pharmacy’s primary role.
The release highlights the growing contribution of community pharmacy teams in providing accessible, front door care for patients across Wales, alongside the essential daytoday work of safely supplying medicines.
Responding to the figures, a CPW spokesperson said:
“CPW welcomes the publication and the Cabinet Secretary’s recognition that dispensing prescription items remains community pharmacy’s primary role. Alongside that essential work, reaching more than 600,000 clinical consultations through the Common Ailments Service and other clinical community pharmacy services shows how effectively pharmacies are helping people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time—often without the need for an appointment.
This achievement is a real credit to community pharmacy teams and to the patients who continue to trust their local pharmacies. But it is also deeply concerning that Welsh Government and Health Boards have allowed such a success story to be put at risk due to their failure to provide the funding necessary to sustain it. In recent years, the funding and practical support needed to sustain the network has not kept pace with inflation or with the real, rising costs of running a pharmacy—leaving many teams stretched and uncertain about what comes next.
CPW has repeatedly set out to Welsh Government and Health Boards, the pressures facing the community pharmacy network.
Recurring CPCF funding has increased by 18.9% since 2019 whereas CPI inflation rose by 27.6% over the same period. More recently, pharmacy-level costs increased by 42.5%, driven largely by National Living Wage increases and changes to Employer National Insurance. Without a corresponding increase in funding, the network is now under immense strain.
Six years ago, there were 717 community pharmacies in Wales compared to 688 at the present time. In recent years some of the largest community pharmacy chains have decided to exit Wales completely, and several pharmacies have been removed from pharmaceutical lists because they cannot meet the required terms of service. Each loss increases pressure on neighbouring pharmacies, which must absorb additional workload. CPW is seriously concerned that, without urgent action, further instability could have a significant impact on patients and on the wider health service.
CPW has said that, without the introduction of an immediate recurrent stabilisation payment of at least £12.8 million, there is a real risk that parts of the network will not remain viable leaving the population facing a potential catastrophe.
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