Welcome to the APPG on Pharmacy weekly Parliamentary update. Set out below is a summary of key parliamentary and policy developments in community pharmacy from the week just gone. Where relevant, there is also an overview of any upcoming activity in the week ahead.
Announcements
Government to make medicines dispensing more efficient (13th May 2024)
On Monday 13th May, the Government announced the expected rollout of a 'hub and spoke' model for pharmacy dispensing, aimed at making medicine access and care faster and more efficient.
This model will allow smaller independent pharmacies to benefit from centralised dispensing previously available only to larger chains, with the intention of promoting a more level playing field.
It is hoped that these changes will free up pharmacists’ time to provide more face-to-face patient care, and in turn enhance services like Pharmacy First and contraception consultations. Subject to Parliamentary approval, all pharmacies will have an option of 2 hub and spoke models from 2025. Further information on the announcement can be found here.
Key Parliamentary Activity
Oral questions
Prime Minister’s Questions (15th May 2024)
Derek Thomas (Conservative, St Ives) asked the Prime Minister if he will do everything he can to ensure that funds are directed toward community pharmacy, so that pharmacies can help the Government to deliver NHS services where and when they are most needed.
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured Mr Thomas that he cares deeply about the future of community pharmacies. In his response, he referred to the Pharmacy First initiative and how it will contribute to the Government’s plan to cut waiting lists and get people the care they need more quickly.
The full exchange can be found here.
Written Questions
Wes Streeting (Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of prescriptions that were written by pharmacists in each of the last five years.
Andrea Leadsom (Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care): The National Health Service does not currently commission prescribing services from community pharmacists but pharmacists working in other NHS settings, including general practices, can prescribe on the NHS.
The following table show the total number of items prescribed, the number of items prescribed by a pharmacist, and the percentage this equates to in terms of overall prescribing in England, in each of the last five years:
Source: NHS Business Services Authority
The number of pharmacists that are independent prescribers is increasing. From 2026 all newly qualified pharmacists will be prescribers and we are upskilling the current workforce. NHS England are piloting services with varying models to evaluate how this could work in future clinical services in community pharmacy. In future, prescribing in community pharmacy has the potential to unlock more clinical services in community pharmacy, taking further pressure off general practice.
Conor McGinn (Independent, St Helens North): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Helens constituency since 2019.
Andrea Leadsom (Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care): On 31 December 2023, there were 18 pharmacies in St Helens North constituency. Between 31 March 2019 and 31 December 2023, no pharmacies closed in St Helens North, and no new pharmacies opened. This year, there has been one closure in February 2024, as a result consolidation. Consolidation is a merger of two pharmacy businesses, and does not create a gap in the provision of pharmaceutical services.
Access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 95% of the population of St Helens North living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80%. Residents of St Helens North can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have regard to those assessments when commissioning services, and where a pharmacy closure impacts the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.