Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of implementing new caps on clinical pathway consultations on Pharmacy First from April 2025.

Caps on Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations were first introduced in April 2024. In October 2024, the methodology used to calculate clinical pathway caps changed to be based on actual delivery, and from April 2025 caps will be calculated monthly instead of quarterly.

As part of the 2024/25 and 2025/26 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, we have agreed to maintain the current cost control mechanism linked to Pharmacy First, which will manage the growth of the service to ensure delivery remains within the agreed funding envelope. This methodology has been designed to ensure fair and consistent access for all contractors. Any underspend, where caps are not met, will be redistributed and moved into subsequent months.