Community pharmacy to play "big role" in NHS 10-year Health Plan, says Kinnock

Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has insisted that community pharmacy have an integral part to play in the government’s long-term plan to refocus healthcare from hospitals to the community.

Through the new NHS 10-Year Plan, the government aims to transform the NHS by shifting from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

In December, Community Pharmacy England made a submission to the government’s development of a 10-year Health Plan for the NHS, highlighting the benefits of increased commissioning of pharmacy services in tandem with addressing the sector’s current funding gap.

“The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and community pharmacies will have a big role to play in that shift,” said Kinnock

“As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including from the community pharmacy sector.”

One way to build on the work of community pharmacy is too develop the Pharmacy Fist scheme which Kinnock said last month had huge potential, but “hasn't realised its full potential”.

As part of efforts to enhance the service, Kinnock announced £215 million in additional funding for Pharmacy First and other Primary Care Access Recovery Plan services.

This funding is in addition to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) allocations for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

“I feel strongly that pharmacy first has huge potential, but I think it hasn't realized its full potential because we've had to learn through its implementation, what has worked and what hasn't worked so well,” Kinnock told Pharmacy Business, during a media briefing yesterday.

“We're a government that takes decisions and makes policy on the basis of evidence. We have gathered the evidence, we've looked at the challenges, and we've spoken with the sector.”

“We've got the feedback on what we need to do to incentivize pharmacists on Pharmacy First and how we can also give them the space to do that,” he said.