2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:39 pm on 8 December 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:39, 8 December 2020

Thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies for raising this particular issue. I also agree that community pharmacies have really gone above and beyond in many cases in terms of supporting their communities. I can tell Huw Irranca-Davies that negotiations between the Welsh Government and Community Pharmacy Wales officials have been ongoing since CPW submitted a claim back in April for additional expenses incurred due to the pandemic. We, of course, as I say, recognise it has been an extremely difficult time for community pharmacy, and the health Minister has signalled clearly his intention to provide additional resources, subject to these negotiations. A number of offers have been made, but they have been rejected, and a final offer has been made in recent weeks. As yet, it's been not possible to reach an agreement with CPW, but this is what the meeting next week will intend to come to a resolution on. I should add that we made additional funding of £1.5 million available in March to support business continuity, and we also postponed until further notice a range of services in pharmacies, but we're still continuing to provide the funding for those services. Again, that was because of our concerns about business continuity and meeting the additional costs for servicing their patients who are shielding, for example. So, we do recognise those matters as well. But I'll be sure to ensure that the health Minister provides that update on the outcome of those negotiations as soon as he's able to.