ICBs extending independent prescribing pathfinder programme

A number of integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are extending their support for the independent prescribing pathfinder programme amid calls for a national expansion of the scheme.

The scheme that authorises specially-trained pharmacists to prescribe NHS medicines directly to patients for a range of illnesses has been extended at pharmacies across Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire until March 2027.

The new funding for 2026/27 covers 30 NHS consultations per month at each pharmacy – including three in Nottinghamshire, four in Derbyshire and five in Lincolnshire.

The programme covers NHS treatment for minor illnesses as well as allowing independent prescribing pharmacists to provide appropriate alternative medications when a medicine is unavailable due to stock shortages.

Dr Dave Briggs, executive director of outcomes at NHS Derby and Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICBs said providing more care closer to patient’s homes was a central part of the government’s 10-Year Health Plan ambitions.

He added: ‘Community pharmacy is playing an increasingly important role as a front door to the NHS, utilising the skills of our brilliant pharmacists to deliver patient-centred care much more effectively.

‘The ability to prescribe for additional conditions, in addition to the hugely successful Pharmacy First service available at nearly all our community pharmacies, makes treatment more accessible to the public and allows GPs more time to focus on patients with more serious, persistent illnesses.’

Related Article: Payment percentage for statutory branded medicines scheme drops to 16.5%

The ICB said that Lincolnshire pharmacies had provided more than 2,800 independent prescriber consultations, Nottinghamshire pharmacies provided more than 1,100, and Derby and Derbyshire ones more than 3,500.

Rebecca Dickenson, community pharmacy clinical lead at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, said that due to success of the the pilot a national expansion of the programme would be welcome.

She added: ‘The IP community pharmacy pathfinder pilot has been a great success, providing increased access to primary care for patients and a brilliant professional development and learning opportunity for the participating pharmacists.

‘The pilot has been most effective in those areas where the pharmacy and GP practice have worked most closely together, providing a more seamless service to patients and very much in the spirit of the new NHS neighbourhood model for primary care.

‘Based on our experience during the pilot, we would very much welcome a national expansion of the programme.’

The independent prescribing pathfinder programme started out as a national pilot funded by NHS England, which ended on 31 December last year.

Most ICBs chose to continue the programme until March, supported by a single payment of £1,500 per pathfinder site (£500 per month) from NHS England.

NHS England has now withdrawn all financial support for the pathfinder sites as it consults with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) about the next community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF), including a potential national prescribing service.

Learnings from the pilot programme will inform any future service models where prescribing becomes part of national community pharmacy services, NHS England said in a letter to ICBs.

Head of pharmacy integration at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB James Milner also confirmed that all three sites participating in the programme would continue operating through to the end of June 2026.

‘To continue momentum, the next step will be to support the extension and scaling of locally-commissioned prescribing services within community pharmacy over the next three years, and to ensure prescribing services in community pharmacy is a key enabler in the delivery of the neighbourhood programme,’ he added.

In Lancashire and South Cumbria, pathfinder pharmacies will continue operating until the end of May 2026 on a reduced number of sessions as the ICB awaits news about a national service.

Related Article: Research review: a look at the latest clinical papers

Humber and North Yorkshire ICB had 10 pharmacies that participated in the pilot programme, and each one could deliver seven clinical models including cardiovascular disease, respiratory and weight management.

An ICB spokesperson told The Pharmacist: ‘This model was designed to enable IPs to meet the clinical needs of patients in a timely fashion without the need for an additional GP appointment during a period of significant and wide-ranging drug shortages.’

Seven of these pharmacies will continue to offer weight management services for existing patients to enable them to complete the full 12 month programme.

The ICB said it was working with commissioners and pharmacist representatives to explore how community pharmacists' independent prescribing skills can be further harnessed to support patients.

North East and North Cumbria ICB has also extended two elements of the IP pathfinder programme:

• A Covid medicine delivery unit provided by one of the pathfinder sites; and
• Four IP sites will continue to provide the extended minor ailment element for a further six months, subject to them commissioning their own IT solutions.

And two of the three pathfinder sites in Northamptonshire – Regents Pharmacy and Kettering Pharmacy – will be funded until 31 March 2027 by Northamptonshire ICB.

Greater Manchester ICB said it was considering ways to continue commissioning a small number of sites with limited sessions reimbursed into 2026/27, but no decision had been finalised.

Related Article: MenB vaccination programme to be rolled out in pharmacies

West Yorkshire ICB also said it was working with pathfinder sites to determine how services started as part of the programme could be continued.

And Leicestershire and Rutland ICB said it had ‘no plans’ to continue the programme but that it would be looking for opportunities to commission independent prescribing through pharmacies in the future.

A national evaluation of the Pathfinder programme, conducted by researchers from the University of Manchester and ICF International, said that a national prescribing service ‘incrementally’ and make sure that it has ‘enough funding and sustainability’ for employers to invest in their workforce.

Commenting on the Pathfinder evaluation, an NHSE spokesperson said: ‘‘We will use these findings to help us develop future clinical services within pharmacy, and as we deliver on the 10 Year Health Plan which aims to improve patient access to services in the community, and pharmacies will have an integral role in that work.’