Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential role of community pharmacies in tackling the backlog in primary care after the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 five-year deal, community pharmacy will be more integrated into the National Health Service, deliver more clinical services and provide initial treatment for minor illnesses. Since 2019, NHS111 can refer patients to a community pharmacist for minor illness or the urgent supply of a prescribed medicine. At the end of last year, we extended this service to general practitioner surgeries, who can now also formally refer patients to community pharmacy for consultation. We expect to introduce more clinical services in community pharmacy that will relieve pressures on the NHS during the recovery from the pandemic.