MPs call for a national medicines supply strategy

MPs call for a national medicines supply strategy and reforms which allow pharmacists the ‘clinical autonomy’ to manage medicines shortages safely.

Pharmacists should be trusted to make medicine substitutions without the need for ‘slow and restrictive’ Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), said the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on pharmacy.

It also called for a national medicines supply strategy, improved transparency and routine stock checks to reduce ‘system-wide fragility’.

The measure is one of seven recommendations made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on pharmacy in its ‘Future of Community Pharmacy in England’ report.

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It also advised the government to expand Pharmacy First into a national walk-in clinical service, covering a broader range of conditions and independent prescribing where possible.

‘The rollout of independent prescribing must be accelerated through funded training, protected learning time, and expanded supervisory capacity. In parallel, the wider pharmacy team must be upskilled and supported to manage clinical pressures,’ the report said.

It highlighted the role pharmacy could have in managing long-term health conditions and tackling health inequalities, stressing that achieving these government goals will be impossible ‘without fully mobilising the community pharmacy workforce’.

Building on the APPG’s 2023 inquiry, the report draws from oral evidence sessions held in December 2024 and May 2025. These sessions brought together pharmacy professionals, patient representatives, NHS leaders and wider health stakeholders who all made the case for a more strategic and better-resourced approach to pharmacy services.

In response, Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive, Malcom Harrison, said there is ‘so much more’ that pharmacy can do to free up primary care appointments, reduce pressures on the NHS and support preventative care.

He said: ‘Whilst the Pharmacy First service demonstrates the impressive impact of pharmacy-led care, it is yet to reach its full potential. CCA modelling shows that a fully expanded Pharmacy First service could free up 40m GP appointments each year.

‘Broadening eligibility criteria for the current conditions would increase the number of patients treated, enhance access, and reduce onwards referrals.’

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He also stressed the importance of commissioning services that allow pharmacists to use their independent prescribing skills. This must be accompanied by an ‘adequate supply of DPPs, to ensure minimal disruption to the community pharmacy workforce’ and the CCA would like to see a ‘national framework for a prescribing service’, he added.

Director of communications, corporate and public affairs for Community Pharmacy England (CPE), Zoe Long, said: ‘This report from the Pharmacy APPG powerfully reinforces a future where pharmacies are fully recognised as essential pillars of primary care.

‘It’s encouraging to see such strong alignment on the urgent need for sustainable funding, workforce investment, digital integration, and national commissioning standards.’

She urged the government to act now on the recommendations made by the APPG to ‘unlock the full potential’ of community pharmacy.

The report also reiterated the need to ‘address funding shortfalls’ that threaten the sustainability of the sector.

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Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England board chair, Tase Oputu, said: ‘With the right investment and integration into neighbourhood health services, pharmacy teams can play a transformative role in improving population health, supporting prevention and enabling better care across the NHS.

‘Pharmacists are playing a growing clinical role in the NHS, but this depends on investing in our workforce and commissioning new services that make the most of their skills.’