MCPP founders make case for community pharmacy's future

A new movement called Modern Community Pharmacy Practice has emerged in the sector, with its founders arguing the profession has more to offer than its current struggles suggest. Victoria Steele and Michael Holden spoke to Chemist+Druggist in May 2026 to set out what MCPP does and why they think pharmacies need it.

What happened

C+D reporter Alex Cooke published an in-depth piece on 20 May 2026 looking at MCPP, a movement positioning itself as a response to the pressures facing community pharmacy. Steele and Holden, the faces behind the initiative, outlined the group's purpose and how it operates. The article title itself — borrowing the line "pharmacy isn't dead" — signals the tone: this is a direct pushback against the sense of decline that has characterised much of the sector's conversation over recent years.

The piece is one of several C+D features examining the profession's direction as funding disputes, workforce shortages and closures continue to shape the day-to-day reality for contractors and their teams.

Why it matters

For anyone entering pharmacy right now, the mood in community practice matters. Headlines about closures and contract cuts can make the sector feel like a sinking ship. Movements like MCPP are trying to reframe that, arguing there is still a future worth building towards in high-street and community settings.

Steele and Holden aren't making that argument in abstract terms. They're doing it publicly, through a named initiative with a stated mission. Whether MCPP gains traction will depend on whether it can shift how pharmacy teams and contractors actually think about their work — not just generate good press.

For pre-registration trainees, this matters for a practical reason. The community pharmacy you train in, or may work in after registration, doesn't exist in a vacuum. The professional culture around you, the ambitions of the people running the sector, and the ideas circulating about what pharmacy could be — all of that shapes the environment you'll step into. Knowing that organised voices are actively making the case for community pharmacy's value is worth being aware of, even if the specifics of MCPP's model aren't something you'll be tested on.

There's also a career angle. Community pharmacy sometimes gets written off by trainees eyeing clinical or hospital roles, and that's understandable given the noise around contracts and pay. But initiatives like this suggest there are people inside the sector who see a different version of what community practice could look like. If MCPP's vision gains any foothold, it may shift what career paths in community settings actually involve.

What's next

Watch for more coverage of MCPP as its founders continue to make their case. C+D is likely to return to this story as the movement develops, particularly if it starts influencing how pharmacy owners, superintendents or commissioners think about service delivery.

More broadly, keep an eye on how the "community pharmacy isn't dead" argument holds up against the structural pressures the sector still faces. Funding decisions from NHS England and the government will ultimately determine whether initiatives like MCPP have anything solid to build on, or whether they're pushing against a tide that policy hasn't turned yet.

Source: Chemist+Druggist — https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/pharmacy-isnt-dead-inside-mcpp-pharmacys-newest-movement-2P3KEZS73BBOREQOLBXGTWKMPA/