August 16th 2025

By Ailsa Colquhoun

DDA Chairman interview: Survival 'increasingly difficult' for dispensing practices

DDA chairman Dr Richard West has exposed the financial pressures facing dispensing practices in 2025.

In an interview with GP Online Editor  Emma Bower, he warned that making a profit was becoming harder and harder for dispensing practices.

Polling by an expert accountant for the DDA two years ago showed that as many as a third of practices that provide the service would have been better off financially if they closed their dispensary - and cost pressures have continued to build.

Dr West said the dispensing fee scale was last renegotiated more than a decade ago in 2012. Since then staffing and other running costs have all increased.

In addition, the interview highlights the increasing number of medicines that are loss-making after clawback and Tariff reimbursement is applied.

The interview also highlights the DDA's RAMP UP campaign, which aims to secure financial stability for dispensing practices.

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