Changes to hub and spoke regulation will not come into effect on 1 January 2025, as was previously intended, according to Community Pharmacy England (CPE).

This is because the government needs time to brief new ministers before the proposed changes can be implemented, CPE has suggested.

The negotiator said it did not have further clarity on the timescales, but that the government had said it was 'not in a position' to implement the changes from January, as previously planned.

CPE said it would update the sector once it had more information.

A government spokesperson confirmed to The Pharmacist that an update on hub and spoke timelines would be provided in due course.

They added that the government had 'inherited a broken NHS where pharmacies have been neglected for years', and committed to 'make better use' of pharmacists' skills 'by increasing the number of pharmacists able to prescribe medication themselves'.

'Pharmacies are key to making our healthcare system fit for the future as we shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community,' they added.

Delays 'disappointing', says CCA

Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) called the delay 'disappointing'.

He noted that commitments around hub and spoke dispensing had been promised in the 2019 contractual framework agreement 'to support pharmacies'.

'As part of the 2019 five-year deal, community pharmacy has had to make substantial efficiency savings.  In exchange, the Department for Health and NHS England committed to enable more efficient operating models with changes to supervision and hub and spoke laws,' Mr Harrison said.

And he suggested that the 'significant' costs of costs of establishing and maintaining hub operations would only be worthwhile if new clinical services were commissioned from community pharmacies.

'With little to no profit available in dispensing NHS medicines, it is hard to see how new facilities could be established, or pharmacies could afford to procure assembly services from them,' Mr Harrison said.

'Ultimately, policymakers must realise that community pharmacy needs a ‘new deal’ – one that involves an increase in core funding and investment in new clinical services, such as Pharmacy First,' he added.

Changes to allow hub and spoke across legal entities

Following a consultation in 2022, the government announced earlier this year that hub and spoke dispensing between pharmacies owned by different legal entities would be allowed from 1 January 2025, subject to parliamentary approval.

Two models of hub and spoke dispensing across legal entities have been proposed. In one, the hub directly supplies medicine to the patient. In the other, medicine is sent back to the spoke pharmacy, which then supplies it to the patient.

The proposed changes are intended to 'level the playing field' between larger chains and smaller pharmacies. Under current regulation the spoke pharmacy must form part of the same retail business as the hub pharmacy. This means the model is predominantly used by pharmacy multiples.

Negotiators to work out implications of hub and spoke changes for NHS dispensing

The government's plans for legislative change were published in May. At the time, CPE then said it was working with the DHSC 'to develop a model that works for community pharmacy' in England.

When the consultation response was published, negotiators in Northern Ireland expressed disappointment that the government had proceeded with the spoke-hub-patient model.

Meanwhile in Scotland, the negotiator said in May that it could not begin conversations about how the new legislation would affect NHS dispensing until the sector had its funding in place.

This 2024/25 contract was eventually agreed in Scotland last week. Scottish community pharmacies will now get a £13.2m uplift on the Global Sum. They will also receive a £10m increase on the guaranteed minimum for reimbursement.