Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increasing funding for community pharmacies on funding for secondary care.

On 31 December 2023, there were 22 pharmacies in Coventry North West constituency, including one distance selling pharmacy. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, two pharmacies closed in Coventry North West and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 97% of the population of Coventry North West living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80%. Residents of Coventry North West 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 on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.

Services within the National Health Service delivered in community pharmacy can have a positive impact on secondary care. For example, the Discharge Medicines Service and the New Medicine Service provide patients with extra support for medicines preventing (re)hospitalisation. Urgent and emergency care settings can also refer patients to community pharmacies for a minor illness consultation or an urgent medicine supply, taking the pressure off secondary care. Increasing the impact of these services, which are already commissioned in community pharmacies, will require continued embedding of referral in secondary care pathways.