Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to attract health workers to (a) train for and (b) work in community pharmacies.

As private employers, community pharmacies are responsible for the recruitment and retention of staff. The Department and NHS England also provides support and funding for initial education and training, apprenticeships, and upskilling staff to develop knowledge and skills and deliver better and safer care to patients and the public.

NHS England and the General Pharmaceutical Council have been working with education providers to increase pharmacy training places. Recent announcements include the establishment of new schools of pharmacy at Plymouth University, Teesside University, the University of Leicester, and Bangor University, which will improve training opportunities and build resilience in these areas.

The Government will make sure the National Health Service has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.