Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has suggested that the outcome of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA)'s ballot could inform considerations around its own negotiating tactics and positioning.

Pharmacy sector leaders have today joined the NPA to deliver a petition to Downing Street and to voice concerns about pharmacy funding, following the membership organisation's announcement that it is balloting its members on 'working to rule'.

Meanwhile, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), said the group shared the NPA's ' distress and anger', but warned that 'prematurely punishing patients by any type of strike action is unconscionable'.

And the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) warned that the NPA's ballot would only represent around half of community pharmacy owners.

CPE: 'We will be interested to hear about the outcomes of this ballot'

Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England (CPE), told The Pharmacist that 'relentless funding constraints and rising costs have put community pharmacies in a desperate and impossible position'.

'We recognise that many business owners and their teams and other national organisations want to do their bit to make the case for community pharmacy,' she said.

'The more voices we have making the same case for pharmacy the better, and where we can, we and LPCs [Local Pharmaceutical Committees] will continue to work collaboratively with all of them: our doors are always open.'

She added: 'Pharmacy owners can choose which campaigns and activities they wish to actively support: Community Pharmacy England and LPCs will continue to work with everyone where they can, for the greater good of community pharmacy.

'Community Pharmacy England discusses tactics and positioning on an ongoing basis with regard to what will best support negotiations: we will be interested to hear about the outcomes of this ballot to inform those considerations.'

Ms Morrison joined NPA chief executive Paul Rees, NPA chair Nick Kaye, Company Chemists' Association chief executive Malcolm Harrison, Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland chief executive Gerard Greene, Labour MP for Exeter Steve Race and Labour MP for North Somerset Sadik Al-Hassan to deliver the 'Save Our Pharmacies' petition to Downing Street earlier today.

CCA: Community pharmacy can't deliver more with less

Mr Harrison told The Pharmacist that the CCA shared the concerns expressed by the NPA.

'Community pharmacy cannot be expected to deliver more and more workload within an ever-shrinking funding pot,' he said.

'It’s clear that community pharmacies can help to solve so many of the issues identified in Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS but can only do so with urgent investment.

'Without additional funding we are concerned that patient’s access to vital medicines and the NHS services they have come to rely on will deteriorate and further pharmacy closures will be inevitable.'

IPA: 'We feel the same distress and anger'

Dr Hannbeck said that IPA members 'feel the same distress and anger because years of underfunding has left pharmacies fighting for their survival and they cannot continue delivering services without adequate funding'.

But she warned that any action should not impact on patients.

'Our members are deeply embedded in their local communities and for them the idea of prematurely punishing patients by any type of strike action is unconscionable, particularly as winter hardship is looming for many elderly and vulnerable,' she said.

'Public safety and wellbeing have always been the guiding principles for pharmacists to adhere to.'

She added that the IPA's focus was on 'engaging with the new parliament and ministers in as constructive a way as possible and educating the huge number of MPs on the scale of this crisis’.

PDA: 'Significant and urgent investment needed'

Meanwhile, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) said it believed 'that there must be a significant and urgent investment into community pharmacy funding'.

'The current situation continues to have a severe impact on the pharmacy workforce and PDA members have highlighted that this is a why they are facing increasing workplace pressures, and many are looking to leave the sector,' Paul Day, PDA director, told The Pharmacist.

But he noted that since only trade unions can formally ballot members in relation to taking industrial action, the NPA vote and action should not be described as such.

And he highlighted that NPA members represented around 50% of pharmacy owners, not all of whom are pharmacists themselves.

The NPA has said that its ballot will serve advisory purposes only.