Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will bring forward a community pharmacy (a) campaign and (b) audit on unwanted medicines.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) put forward a range of service development and counter proposals during the course of the consultation with them on community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. These proposals were all given full consideration by the Department. The final package contained two of the PSNC’s counter proposals – the proposal to introduce a quality payment, and the proposal for an urgent supply of medicines scheme.

The independent review being conducted by Richard Murray, of the King’s Fund, will consider what clinical services should be provided by community pharmacy in the future, and how they should be commissioned.

The Pharmacy Integration Fund will be used to commission and evaluate activities that bring about clinical pharmacy integration within the National Health Service demonstrating improvements in health outcomes for patients and the public in primary care and in the community.