Hub and spoke changes will not come into effect as scheduled
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has notified Community Pharmacy England (CPE) that they will no longer be able to implement the new
hub and spoke models from 1 January 2025 as initially planned.
The delay comes after the General Election, which put the progress of these amendments on hold.
The DHSC is currently briefing new ministers across all policy areas, including hub and spoke dispensing between different pharmacy owners.
As this process will take time, the implementation will not proceed as originally scheduled.
CPE has stated that it does not yet have a clear timeline and will provide an update to the sector once more information becomes available.
Malcolm Harrison, CEO of the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), expressed disappointment over the continued delays in fulfilling commitments made in the
2019 contractual framework agreement to support pharmacies.