Jim Shannon

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Leicester East (Shivani Raja) for bringing this subject to our attention. As the DUP’s health spokesperson, I am particularly concerned about the amount of support available to our local pharmacies. As an indication of that, I used the opportunity of the first statement today, on summer health and resilience—the Minister was there, not to answer the question, but to support the Secretary of State—to ask the Secretary of State what discussions she is having with her counterparts in the devolved Administrations, particularly in Northern Ireland, to assure a UK-wide co-ordinated approach to summer resilience. I also asked what targeted support has been made available for community pharmacy networks, which so often act as the first line of defence when GP surgeries are stretched to capacity as we prepare for the cold and flu season. To be fair to the Secretary of State, she answered my question very well and assured me that discussions are ongoing with the Minister back home in Northern Ireland, and that reassured me. That example underlines the importance of community pharmacies to me, those in my Strangford constituency and every one of us here. Just last year, the National Pharmacy Association said that it was left with no choice but to recommend that its 6,000 members take collective action for the first time in its history, citing significant new costs and inadequate funding. About 90% of the work carried out by the average community pharmacy is funded by the NHS. This time last year, the National Pharmacy Association issued the stark warning that up to 63% of pharmacies were likely to close in 2026. We are still in 2026, so that threat hangs over all our heads. In response to a survey, 94% of pharmacies stated that the latest funding settlement did not provide stability to their finances. Those figures demonstrate the effect of persistent financial uncertainty on the sector.