Action must be taken to change the way community pharmacy is viewed ‘at the top’ of the NHS to ensure improvements for the sector, according to the chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp).

Dr Leyla Hannbeck suggested that unless there was ‘cultural change’ within the ‘top line of NHS hierarchy’ it would be difficult to enact positive change for community pharmacy.

Her comments came during an evidence session for the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into the challenges faced within all pharmacy settings across the country, which also included representatives from the National Pharmacy Association and the Company Chemists’ Association.

Discussions were focused on workforce issues and the negative impact of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) on the sector, as well as how many pharmacies were closing because of financial pressures and funding concerns.

‘Many community pharmacists are struggling to keep their heads above the water and we're seeing in many communities [pharmacies are] shutting the doors for good,’ Dr Hannbeck told the committee of influential MPs.

While community pharmacies ‘want to be there to be a solution’ within healthcare, they need ‘to have that support and that funding to be able to operate’, she added.

For example, she described the medicines reimbursement scheme as ‘way too complicated’ and ‘not fit for purpose’.

In some cases, it was leaving pharmacies questioning whether they would ‘be able to survive until the next day’ because they ‘simply cannot source the medicines because they are too expensive’, added Dr Hannbeck.

Overarchingly, Dr Hannbeck suggested part of the solution for community pharmacies relied on changes to the way in which the sector was ‘viewed’ within the top levels of the NHS.

‘In order to achieve change, we need to bring that cultural change within the within the top line of NHS hierarchy, and the way community pharmacy is viewed at the top,’ she said.

‘And unless those cultural changes are not coming to force, it's very difficult to achieve any change anywhere.’

As an example, she highlighted how community pharmacy was not consulted on the launch of the controversial ARRS scheme in 2019.

‘It was something that landed on us without any discussions with us, without any forewarning that this was going to happen,’ she added.

The committee’s pharmacy inquiry, which covers community, general practice and hospital pharmacy, is set to continue in the new year.