Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network

Introducing @IPCNetwork a cooperative built by pharmacy contractors, for pharmacy contractors. We are the Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network, a group of small, independent pharmacy owners, most of us single-branch owner-operators, who have come together with one simple goal: To support each other. We’re not a traditional organisation. We’re not driven by titles or hierarchy. We’re a support group rooted in real conversations, shared struggles, and practical solutions. In a world where small independent pharmacies are often overlooked, IPCN provides a space where your voice matters. We help each other grow, stay resilient, and build better businesses, not by competing, but by collaborating. And now, we’ve formally incorporated as a cooperative, so that our values of honesty, community, and collective support are embedded into everything we do. If you’re an independent contractor looking for your people, welcome. You’ve found them. #IPCN #IndependentPharmacy #PharmacyOwners #StrongerTogether #CommunityPharmacy #PharmacySupport #OwnerOperators #PharmacyBusiness

PRESS RELEASE 31 March 2025 For Immediate Release “This Is a Deal That Endorses Closures”: IPCN Condemns Government Funding Announcement and CPE Leadership The Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network (IPCN) has reacted with deep frustration to today’s Government funding announcement, calling it a betrayal of community pharmacy contractors and a devastating failure of leadership by Community Pharmacy England (CPE). While the Government has announced a £617 million uplift and £193 million debt write-off, the recently published Frontier Economics & IQVIA Economic Review confirms what every contractor already knows: this deal does not come close to addressing the crisis facing our sector. The ER reveals a £2.3 billion annual funding gap. 97% to 100% of pharmacies are operating below full economic cost. 47% of pharmacies are already not profitable. The so-called uplift represents a real-terms pay cut, when compared to inflation and the national minimum wage since 2019. This is not a rescue package. It is a managed decline of NHS community pharmacy, and CPE has enabled it. --- Contractors Are Angry – And Rightly So Contractors were told CPE would negotiate based on evidence. Instead, they agreed a deal that ignores the ER, that fails to safeguard businesses, and that leaves contractors £680 million behind where we should be just to break even with 2019 figures adjusted for inflation and wages. This is not just incompetence—it is a total abandonment of duty. CPE has not only failed to fight for our survival, but has effectively endorsed a deal that guarantees further closures, financial hardship, and erosion of services. Contractors have every right to feel furious, betrayed, and unheard. --- IPCN Demands Urgent and Immediate Reform In light of this unacceptable outcome and breach of trust, IPCN makes the following demands: The immediate resignation of the entire executive leadership team at Community Pharmacy England, including the CEO and Director of Pharmacy Funding. A formal vote of no confidence in CPE from all NHS pharmacy contractors. The derecognition of CPE as the negotiating body with the Secretary of State for Health. The dissolution of CPE and its replacement with a new, independent, and democratically elected representative body, accountable to contractors—not political agendas. IPCN will now mobilise over 2,000 NHS contract holders to begin the formal derecognition process, as outlined in statute. In addition, IPCN will proceed with a legal challenge under fiduciary law, on the grounds that CPE has acted against the best interests of its members by agreeing to a funding settlement that directly results in closures, underfunding, and the loss of NHS frontline services. --- A Final Message to Contractors and the Public This deal does not reflect the evidence. It does not reflect the cost of delivering NHS care. And it does not reflect the sacrifices contractors and staff have made over the past five years. This is the moment where the sector must decide: Will we continue to accept representation that negotiates our decline? Or will we stand together, reject this failed leadership, and demand a new future for community pharmacy? IPCN stands ready to lead that change. --- Contact: Email: [email protected] Website: ipcn.org.uk #IPCN #PharmacyFunding #EconomicReview #CPEFailure #FiduciaryDuty #CommunityPharmacy #ResignCPE #NHSPharmacy #IndependentPharmacy #StrongerTogether #RealRepresentation @IPCNetwork @__medicine__man @ChemistDruggist @ChemistDruggist @ComPharmWaqas @dervisgurol @DHSCgovuk @NPA1921 @IPAPharmacy @LeylaHannbeck @nkpharmacy @reeyah1 @ra2alghul @SriKanaparthy @