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The National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg has said Labour is “missing a huge trick” by excluding community pharmacies from its 10-year capital plan for health and social care.

Gregg (pictured) told Independent Community Pharmacist the Government’s blueprint, which it said is “backed by record investment” as it announced the plan last week, should have contained provision for increased investment in pharmacies.

Under the plan, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said its budget, which will rise to £15 billion from 2029 to 2030, will rebuild NHS buildings, upgrade around 800 GP surgeries and replace ageing equipment.

That, the DHSC said, will free up nine million extra GP appointments and help move care closer to people’s homes. It said another £200 million “will help more GP surgeries expand and modernise, helping patients get appointments more easily, receive care closer to home and reducing pressure on hospitals”.

However, apart from a brief reference to £144,000 of funding from the primary care utilisation and modernisation fund, which provides £102 million in 2025-26 for improvements in the primary care estate, being used to convert a former pharmacy in Wiltshire into a five-room health hub, the Government’s report outlining the plan made no mention of pharmacies.

Gregg said “creating additional capacity” for GP appointments was “a positive step” but accused the Government of producing a plan that made “no sense whatsoever” given pharmacies’ accessibility for people in local communities across England.

“They already offer local health care on every high street but could do so much more if ministers only had the vision to see their potential and invest in the future,” he said.

“GPs, exactly like pharmacies, are independent contractors working for the NHS, so it makes no sense whatsoever to limit capital investment to one part of primary care when there are thousands of pharmacies that could quickly expand local health services where people need them.

“Investment in pharmacies benefits the whole health system and millions of patients. We’ve been saying this for years, which is why we want fundamental reform in order to reimage local health services to benefit millions of people.”

Gregg added: “We’re pleased the Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS appears to agree with that vision but we’re disappointed that the Government’s approach to capital investment doesn’t follow suit.”

One way the plan said it was looking to increase patient access to timely care was by improving the NHS app, although there are still no plans to provide Pharmacy First appointments through the app.

“The NHS app will help to ensure seamless navigation and communication between primary and secondary care,” the plan said.

“It will also guide patients to self-care, primary care and urgent care through a single user-facing service, giving patients a unified view of their medical history and enabling two-way communication and active management of their own health needs.”

When asked to clarify whether community pharmacies will, in any way, benefit from the £15 billion investment being made by Labour, and if not, why not, the DHSC did not respond.