The government does not hold information on how many and what proportion of community pharmacies have dispensed medications at a loss, the minister of state for care has said.

But the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has estimated this number at 85% of its independent contractor members and warned that 'frequently, pharmacies find themselves losing out'.

The minister was asked to provide this information over the last three years in a written question from Conservative MP for South West Devon Rebecca Smith.

However, care minister and Labour MP for Aberafan Maesteg Stephen Kinnock responded this week and said: 'We do not hold this information.'

And he said that community pharmacy reimbursement arrangements 'do not aim to ensure that every pharmacy is paid as much or more than it paid for every product', but rather to reimburse the overall cost of medicines to the sector overall, plus the allowed medicine margin.

Mr Kinnock added that through the quarterly margin survey, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had assessed that 'more than the amount agreed as part of the CPCF [Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework] has been delivered in total across the previous four financial years'.

Paul Rees, NPA chief executive, told The Pharmacist that the government was 'right that the aim of the current arrangement is to reimburse pharmacies for as much as drugs were originally bought for', but that 'many independents find that the reality is very different'.

'Frequently, pharmacies find themselves losing out when it comes to the drug tariff and our latest survey found that around 85% of NPA members frequently dispense medication at a loss,' Mr Rees said.

'On top of this, the current price concession system leaves pharmacies in the dark when they order in stock as to whether they will be fully recompensed or not.

'The government should take this opportunity to conduct a root and branch review of the current broken contract for community pharmacy, delivering a new deal that will end the scandal of pharmacies subsidising the cost of NHS medication.'

Mike Dent, director of pharmacy funding at Community Pharmacy England (CPE), said the negotiator had called for 'a full review of the medicines supply market to address issues such as under-funding and price concessions, as well as a comprehensive review of medicines margin'.

'The supply chain is now struggling to operate effectively given the UK’s low-price environment, and with margin spread more thinly as dispensing volumes and pricing issues increase, this is further intensifying the intolerable financial pressures on community pharmacies,' he told The Pharmacist.

Mr Kinnock also said that 'as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2023/24, pharmacies were allowed to retain £850 million from the medicine margin, on top of what they are paid for the medicines they purchase as part of providing NHS services'.

CPE has clarified that this figure includes the baseline margin allowance of £80m plus half of the £100m 'excess margin' earned by the sector that was written off across 2022/23 and 2023/24.

And it noted that no agreement had been reached to increase the retained margin allowance beyond £800m per year.

The Company Chemists' Association (CCA), which represents large pharmacy multiples, also noted concerns around medicines supply funding.

Malcolm Harrison, CCA chief executive, told The Pharmacist that the whole of the CPCF was 'suffering from a decade of underfunding'.

And he said that growing concerns about medicines shortages were 'driven in a large part by insufficient investment in the Drug Tariff'.

'This is impacting the resilience of the supply chain,' he added.

And he said the CCA was 'working hard with partners across the medicines supply chain to understand more about the challenges it faces, and to develop solutions to ensure patients can continue to access the vital medicines they need'.

Last week, an Opposition Day debate in parliament yesterday drew attention to 'struggling' community pharmacies dispensing at a loss.