What does community pharmacy make of the NHS 10-year plan?

As the government pledges to expand the clinical offering of community pharmacies under its 10-year plan for the NHS, The Pharmacist takes a look at the reaction from the sector.

The long-awaited blueprint promises to move pharmacies away from being dispensing-focused and towards more clinical services – and to ensure the sector has a ‘vital role’ under the government’s plans for a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’.

Exact details are currently thin, but the plan said there will be a focus on increasing the role of pharmacies in the treatment of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as expanding the sector’s role in vaccinations and screening.

To support the expanded role of community pharmacy, the government said that ‘over time’, the sector will be joined up to its new ‘Single Patient Record’ – bringing together all a patient’s medical records into one place – to help pharmacies provide a ‘seamless service’.

And more widely, pharmacists have been named among the health professionals who will staff the government’s new ‘neighbourhood health centres’ alongside nurses, doctors, social care workers and others.

‘2026/27 contract must appropriately fund 10-year plan ambitions’

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said it while it welcomed the changes for pharmacy, it wanted to begin negotiations with the government for the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) as early as possible to ensure the proposals are underpinned by appropriate funding and implemented in a way that works best for the sector.

Janet Morrison, CPE chief executive, said: ‘We have been saying for some time that pharmacy teams are well placed to offer more support for the management of long-term conditions, complex medicines regimens, and key public health areas such as obesity.

‘Longer-term ambitions to give pharmacies a bigger role in vaccinations and screening, and to better integrate patient records are also important developments for the sector.’

She said these plans aligned well with the negotiator’s service development priorities.

‘Whilst we welcome the changes for community pharmacy in this plan, we are keen to start discussing the practicalities as soon as practicable,’ added Ms Morrison.

‘The development of each new service needs to be carefully managed given the sector’s current capacity and tight finances.’

She also suggested the 10-year plan should ‘act as a springboard for the development of a pharmacy-specific plan for the future’.

‘To deliver this level of transformation, we now need to see action on the government’s commitment to a long-term future for the sector, and for 2026/27 negotiations to begin soon,’ said Ms Morrison.

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‘It’s clear that the strategy to show politicians how many solutions pharmacy has to offer is working – but that now needs to be backed by sustainable funding to enable community pharmacy to reach its potential.’

‘Devil’s in the detail but welcome opportunity for pharmacies’

Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said while the ‘devil’s in the detail’ there is ‘a lot of opportunity for community pharmacy contractors’.

‘In the future people will be able to pop into an NHS community pharmacy and see a highly experienced pharmacist for things like screening, check ups, HRT, weight management or ongoing care without lengthy waits, freeing their NHS colleagues in hospitals and GPs to do more,’ he said.

‘Neighbourhood care is in the DNA of pharmacies that are only a short walk from most people’s homes.

‘Thinking very differently about how we use NHS pharmacies, GPs and hospitals to maximum effect can deliver nothing less than a health revolution with vast benefits for patients and taxpayers alike.’

Though Mr Gregg said the NPA was ‘clear that additional clinical responsibilities must be accompanied by contractual reform and sustainable funding so pharmacies can offer the very best neighbourhood services for patients’.

He also welcomed the move to join pharmacies into the Single Patient Record – something the NPA has ‘long been calling for’.

And pointing to the news that pharmacists will help staff the government’s new neighbourhood health centres, Mr Gregg said it would need to work closely with ministers on the rollout to ensure they ‘integrate closely and do not duplicate the services that pharmacies already offer in people's neighbourhoods’.

‘Expanding the role of those pharmacies offers a good way to roll out many of these services at pace,’ he added.

Pharmacies ready to take on ‘bigger role’ in prevention

Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said the sector was ready to take on an ‘even bigger role’ in vaccinations and screening.

Under the plan, community pharmacies will be able to provide the HPV vaccine from 2026 to those who missed out at school. The blueprint also committed to giving community pharmacy an increased role in prevention by expanding responsibilities for delivering vaccines and screening for cardiovascular and diabetes risks.

‘The plan rightly recognises the value community pharmacy provides in delivering high-quality care, and points to a more clinical future, which the CCA wholeheartedly supports,’ said Mr Harrison.

‘Community pharmacies have a track record of delivering vital preventative healthcare interventions at scale. We believe the sector is ready to take on an even bigger role in administering vaccinations and screening.

‘We are delighted therefore to see that a new HPV vaccination service, administered from pharmacies, will help deliver on the government’s goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035.’

‘Strong pharmacy leadership vital for success’

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England Board chair Tase Oputu said she welcomed the focus on growing the clinical role of pharmacy but stressed that this relied on a supported workforce and appropriate funding.

‘With the right investment and integration of pharmacy teams into neighbourhood health services under the plan, pharmacy teams can play a transformative role in improving population health, support prevention and enable better care across the NHS,’ said Ms Oputu.

‘We are pleased to see the plan highlights pharmacy’s growing clinical role, but delivering it depends on a supported and skilled workforce.

‘Investing in pharmacists across all sectors is vital to ensure safe, equitable, and accessible care for patients.’

In addition, she stressed it was vital that pharmacists are included in ‘strategic decision making for patient pathways wherever medicines are involved’.

‘The combined strategic and clinical leadership of pharmacy is vital to lay the best possible foundations for reform,’ she said.

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“Progress made through Pharmacy First is encouraging, and we urge accelerated support for community pharmacist prescribing to unlock the profession’s potential and expand access to treatment.

With ‘significant cuts’ currently being made to integrated care boards (ICBs), Ms Oputu said the RPS had been ‘engaging with NHS England to ensure that strong pharmacy leadership is retained and visible across the system to develop new services, ensure the best use of resources and deliver savings where possible’.

‘Pharmacy must be put on resilient and stable footing’

Chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Gisela Abbam urged the government to ensure pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies were ‘closely involved in developing and delivering’ plans around a Neighbourhood Health Service.

‘This plan comes at a time when pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are facing significant challenges,’ she added.

‘Pharmacy needs to be put on a resilient and stable footing for the future for this plan to succeed.

‘We welcome the steps the government has taken so far and we hope the ongoing support and investment needed to enable the pharmacy workforce to fulfil their increasing roles will be reflected in the upcoming workforce plan.’

It is understood that the government is set to publish an updated workforce plan for the NHS this summer.

‘As the pharmacy regulator, we will empower pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to provide safe, effective and trusted care at the heart of their communities, and support them to take on changing roles, as outlined in our new strategic plan,’ added Ms Abbam.

‘NHS 10-year plan a positive step forward’

A statement from the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) said the plan marked ‘a positive step forward by recognising the vital role pharmacists play in supporting patients and helping to reduce pressure on other parts of the NHS’.

‘Placing community pharmacies at the centre of neighbourhood healthcare should be a no brainer, it can only help the ambitions outlined in the plan,’ they said.

‘However, if pharmacies are to take on more responsibilities – such as greater prescribing, delivering more vaccinations and further managing long-term conditions – then proper funding must be in place beforehand so we can plan, train and invest to give our patients the level of service and support they deserve.

‘There must be minimal “red-tape” and no tired old excuses for the IT not being ready and fit for purpose from day one.’

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‘Pharmacists must be compensated appropriately’

Numark chair Harry McQuillan also stressed the need for pharmacists to be appropriately compensated.

‘Pharmacists have been named as one of the professions which will be expected to run new neighbourhood health centres and, in many ways, they already do,’ he said.

‘The expansion of this service, which empowers communities to look after their health, seems like the logical next step and is a welcome one to utilise highly trained community pharmacists and their teams.’

Though he added: ‘The caveat, which we repeat time and time again, is that the pharmacists to whom this responsibility now falls upon, must be compensated appropriately.

‘They must also be provided with the tools they need to be successful, including access to patient records via a central NHS system.

‘This will be vital as prescribing becomes the norm within a community pharmacy setting and the government delivers on its pledge to introduce a community pharmacy based prescribing service.’