Details on incoming expansion of New Medicine Service
The New Medicine Service (NMS) will expand from Wednesday 29 October 2025 to include depression as an eligible condition, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has confirmed.
The change, first announced as part of the latest pharmacy contract earlier this year, will be reflected in updated versions of the service specification and the NMS eligible drug list, available on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website.
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The NMS drug list has been updated following a full review of medicines currently included in the service. Discontinued products, hospital-only initiated medicines and drugs with very low prescribing volumes in community settings have been removed, while newer medicines licensed for the relevant conditions have been added.
The updated specification also includes changes designed to bring it in line with other advanced service specifications. These include standardised wording on post-payment verification and record keeping.
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A clarification has also been added confirming that subcontracting of the service is not permitted, reflecting guidance first issued as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) settlement in March.
The timings of consultations have also been clarified. The intervention consultation must be carried out between seven and 14 days after recruitment, with the follow-up consultation taking place between 14 and 21 days after the intervention.
The previous version stated that consultations would ‘typically’ take place within these windows. Pharmacists may still agree timings outside these ranges in exceptional cases, for example when a patient is on holiday.
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Pharmacy owners using an IT system to support clinical record keeping for the NMS have been advised to check with their suppliers that system updates will be in place ahead of the 29 October implementation date.
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