An 'administrative barrier' to providing Covid-19 vaccinations persists beyond the pandemic and should be removed immediately, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair has said.

Nick Kaye told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry last night that 'both primary care networks and community pharmacy had to go through - for want of a better description, [an] accreditation process' in order to provide Covid-19 vaccinations.

He said this added 'additional workload and strain' to community pharmacies, particularly smaller rural businesses.

And when asked whether he would recommend the removal of this barrier in future pandemics, Mr Kaye responded: 'I'd recommend it from now, because it still exists.'

He also said that giving community pharmacy teams equitable access to personal protective equipment (PPE) 'on the same terms and at the same time as other healthcare providers' was 'absolutely critical'.

This came as the inquiry heard that community pharmacies initially had to source their own PPE from construction stores or rely on donations.

And it follows calls for the government and NHS to ensure pharmacies have access to PPE amid a potential mpox outbreak.

Pandemic risk assessments may have been hindered by 'overwhelming' workload

Mr Kaye also outlined issues with social distancing in small dispensaries, increased demand and abuse from patients and pharmacy teams working overtime to meet the need.

And he suggested that many pharmacy owners may not have completed risk assessments for their staff because they were 'overwhelmed'.

'I don't think that's an excuse. I just think that's a realistic reflection,' the NPA chair told the Covid-19 Inquiry.

NHS England and NHS Improvement had previously asked pharmacies to complete risk assessments for their staff by the end of July 2020.

But in June 2020, two-thirds of pharmacists from Black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) backgrounds did not have a workplace risk assessment in place, according to a survey conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the UK Black Pharmacists' Association (UKBPA).

And after the July 2020 deadline, nearly a quarter of all pharmacists - across both hospital and community settings - were 'still waiting' for their risk assessment to be in place, counsel to the inquiry Max Mills highlighted.

He put the results to Mr Kaye and asked whether the NPA was aware of issues preventing the Covid-19 risk assessments being carried out.

Mr Kaye responded that the NPA had 'tried to support its members from an organisational point of view' by producing risk assessments for contractors to use and sharing guidance on how to complete them.

He said that he did not think the NPA was aware that its members were not doing their risk assessments.

'My personal reflection would be that people were probably overwhelmed, if I'm being honest, with all the other things that were needing to be doing,' he said.

Pharmacy teams 'felt like an afterthought' during pandemic

Mr Kaye shared that community pharmacy teams 'felt like an afterthought when [they] were giving their all to deliver care in an unprecedented time'.

He highlighted in particular the late inclusion of pharmacy team members in the Covid life insurance scheme and late designation as key workers.

This also impacted patient care, with pharmacies having to follow isolation advice for retail settings that meant the whole team had to isolate in the case of Covid infection, rather than just the individual and close contacts.

'We know of pharmacies where, in rural locations, they may have had to close because of this type of classification, which ultimately resulted in a reduction of care for those peoples the in that community,' Mr Kaye told the inquiry.

And he highlighted work by the NPA and the Company Chemists' Association enabling pharmacists to fill roles in other pharmacies to meet the need.

Following Mr Kaye's evidence, inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett thanked community pharmacy teams for 'the superb work' they did during the pandemic, adding: 'I'm sorry you didn't get the recognition at the time.'