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Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has asked the government to make clear that its proposed regulations for NHS managers will not apply to community pharmacy owners.
Responding to a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) consultation on proposals to introduce a regulatory system for NHS managers, CPE said that it “seeks reassurance that community pharmacy owners will not be subject to the proposed regulation”.
“The consultation proposals do not explicitly include pharmacy owners as a group to be subject to the proposed regulation, and we seek to avoid accidental or inadvertent inclusion through any regulation of NHS and NHS-related primary care organisations,” it said.
The DHSC consultation, which ran between 28 November 2024 and 18 February 2025, sought views on “the most effective way to strengthen oversight and accountability of NHS managers”.
It asked for views on the type of regulatory system that would be most appropriate for managers; which managers it should apply to; what kind of body should exercise such a regulatory function; and the types of standards managers should be required to demonstrate as part of the regulatory system.
In its response, CPE argued that community pharmacy owners, as well as their directors or staff, should not be subject to the regulations because they are not NHS organisations, but rather independent organisations or contractors providing NHS services.
“Further regulation of community pharmacy owners and their provision of NHS pharmaceutical services would add an unnecessary and additional layer of regulation,” it added.
CPE also argued that community pharmacy owners provide NHS services that are regulated under the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013.
The organisation added that community pharmacy staff and pharmacies are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council and that “there is also relevant company regulation, which is applicable in many cases”.
Concluding its response, CPE said: “Community pharmacy owners and their pharmacy teams are subject to at least three other tiers of regulation already. This would be an additional and unnecessary layer of regulation and add unnecessary cost to the provision of NHS services.”
The DHSC consultation was launched as part of developing the NHS ten-year health plan, which aims to reform the NHS. It also follows “several high-profile public reviews over the last two decades [which] have identified serious failures in NHS leadership and the impact this can have on care and patient experience”, the consultation document said.
“The ongoing Thirlwall inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital continues to highlight these concerns. The Infected Blood Inquiry further highlighted the devastating impacts a lack of senior leadership accountability can have and emphasised the need for candour to apply across the NHS, regardless of position,” it added.
In a statement to The Pharmaceutical Journal, Gordon Hockey, director of legal at CPE, said: “We don’t believe that the proposed regulation has been targeted at community pharmacy owners, and CPE’s response simply seeks to confirm this should not apply to the sector.”
