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Pharmacists will work as part of neighbourhood health teams under the government’s new ten-year NHS plan, which will propose ‘neighbourhood health centres’ to house multidisciplinary teams under one roof.
Due to be published in full on 3 July 2025, the plan is aimed at providing “easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services right on people’s doorsteps”, the government said.
Eventually, neighbourhood health centres will be open 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Announcing the major themes of the plan on 2 July 2025, prime minister Keir Starmer said its approach was “rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round”.
“This is not an overnight fix… there’s more to come,” he added.
Other pledges include the end of “status quo of ‘hospital by default’”, and the promise of “a new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digital-by-default, in a patient’s home where possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary”.
Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said: “Our ten-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history.
“By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated.”
A government statement also outlined plans to train “thousands more GPs” and provide technological support, including digital telephony and AI scribes to GP practices.
Responding to these early details, pharmacy leaders have urged the government to embed pharmacists at the centre of its neighbourhood health plans (see Box).
In June 2025, media reports suggested that pharmacies could offer NHS weight-loss services under the ten-year plan.
Results of subsequent polling, commissioned by the NPA and shared with The Pharmaceutical Journal on 2 July 2025, have suggested that 44% of UK adults would support NHS weight-loss services being delivered through community pharmacies, rising to 55% among those aged 16–34 years old.
The polling — by Savanta — also found that 45% of the public wanted more minor illness treatment services from their local pharmacy, while a further 48% would like more local NHS services close to where they live.
One in five UK adults (22%) said they would go to a pharmacist for menopause advice and treatment, while 15% would be willing to see a pharmacist for follow up after a hospital appointment, the polling suggested.
Comments from the pharmacy sector
Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: “The 10,000 NHS pharmacies in England are right in the heart of their communities on high streets, in health centres, close to people’s doorsteps, providing healthcare and advice to millions every week.
“Pharmacies want to be able to offer better, more joined up care for their communities so they share the government’s ambition to bring care closer to people.
“It’s important that pharmacies, who already do this work day in day out, are placed at the heart of these plans.
“Pharmacies want to work with GPs, social workers and colleagues across the health service to provide better health care, nearer to people’s homes and take pressure off the NHS,” he added.
Alison Jones, director of policy and communications at the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, commented: “Pharmacists, as experts in medicines, have such a significant contribution to make to the neighbourhood health and prevention agendas and already work in local communities and as part of multidisciplinary teams across primary and secondary care settings.
“By harnessing the skills and knowledge of pharmacists through effective commissioning structures, appropriate skill mix, and a greater emphasis on collaborative working, there is huge potential for patients to not only receive care closer to home, but to also have a more active role in managing their healthcare.”
Graham Stretch, president of the Primary Care Pharmacy Association, said: “The emphasis on neighbourhood care offers opportunities to build teams and collaborations in our communities. We need to ensure those teams include all the ‘talents’, and, to use a sporting metaphor, don’t leave key players ‘on the bench’.”
With the plan set to outline new health centres and GP contracts “which encourage and allow practices to cover a wider geographical area”, Stretch added: “It’s really important that pharmacies get involved right now” in conversations about how they could be involved in delivering neighbourhood care.
“There is great potential in the three key aims — community, digital and prevention,” he added.
“We must ensure pharmacy is placed front and centre as policy and planning grows around these aims, using our influence and highlighting our potential.”
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, said: “The network of 10,000 community pharmacies in England are already driving a ‘neighbourhood health’ agenda, delivering high-quality healthcare from within local communities. Pharmacies are therefore well-placed to take on a bigger role in the government’s plan for a neighbourhood health service.”
Elen Jones, director of pharmacy at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “We welcome the government’s ambition to deliver more care in local communities and prioritise prevention. Pharmacists are a core profession in primary care, supporting patient access to care and enhancing health outcomes in community pharmacy and general practice.
“With the right investment and integration into neighbourhood health services under the plan, pharmacy teams can play a transformative role in improving population health and enabling better care across the NHS.”
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, added: “Before this plan can become a reality, first the government must deliver on its commitment to build the sustainable funding model that community pharmacy so desperately needs.”
A statement from the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists (GHP) warned: “There is a distinct lack of detail surrounding resourcing for the ten-year plan — existing services could function seven days a week with sufficient investment for example, but this has not been the case to date.
“The government boldly promises a change of direction in healthcare, highlighting existing low morale and low productivity in particular. However, it is difficult to see how the ongoing dissolution of NHS England, tumultuous ICB mergers and re-organisations, and scrapping of various other organisations is going to do anything but accelerate this, at least in the short term.
“In order for the government to achieve the goals set out in this plan, it needs to be resourced sufficiently, rather than relying on the often promised but seldom realised efficiencies from digital innovation.”