The community pharmacy contract in Scotland will not be announced until after the election, although negotiations are ongoing, the Scottish Government has confirmed to The Pharmacist.

'Owing to the pre-election period we are unable to announce the financial settlement for community pharmacy,' a spokesperson said.

But they added that 'negotiations are ongoing' and the Scottish Government aims 'to put in place arrangements that meet our policy objectives and the needs of the network'.

This comes after Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) told The Pharmacist following the general election announcement that it was 'likely any negotiated deal would only be announced after the general election has concluded’.

The CPS spokesperson said that the negotiating team was continuing to work with the Scottish Government ‘to work towards a deal, regardless of this election being called’.

CPS had previously told The Pharmacist that ongoing contractual negotiations for 2024/25 would take priority over conversations about how new hub and spoke legislation will affect NHS dispensing.

Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a UK general election would take place on 4 July 2024.

In England, community pharmacy negotiators responded to the news by saying that ‘the prospect of more delays’ to the community pharmacy contract was ‘deeply concerning for pharmacy owners who urgently need good news’.

Community Pharmacy England said last week that it would be discussing the impact of the election announcement on the ongoing 2024/25 pharmacy funding negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care, adding that ‘accelerating this negotiation, whether in the coming weeks or with the new government, remains our focus.’

Meanwhile, Gerard Greene, chief executive of Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland, told The Pharmacist that as health was a devolved matter, ‘many decisions relating to community pharmacy affairs including legislation in Northern Ireland can continue to be made at a local level by the The Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive’.