Lewis Houghton/Science Photo Library
More patients used a pharmacy and had a good experience in the past year than in previous years, according to findings from the 2025 NHS GP satisfaction survey.
The survey results, published on 9 July 2025, revealed that 88.0% of patients said they had a good experience after using a community pharmacy — up from 86.7% of patients in 2024.
The most common reason that patients gave for visiting a pharmacy was to pick up a prescription, with 75.3% of patients citing this, while 44.0% of patients said they went to a pharmacy to buy medication.
The NHS surveyed over 700,000 patients between 30 December 2024 and 1 April 2025.
Results from the survey also showed increases in patients visiting community pharmacies to access clinical services:
- Around 7% of patients said they had their blood pressure checked at a pharmacy, compared with 5.2% of patients in 2024;
- Approximately 1.7% of patients used a pharmacy to get contraception without a GP prescription — up from 1.4% of patients in 2024.
However, there was a decline in patients reporting visiting a pharmacy for a vaccination, from 20.0% of patients in 2024 to 18.7% of patients in 2025.
The 2025 survey revealed an increase in the number of patients who visited a pharmacy to get advice for a health condition or medicine, from 20.9% of patients in 2024 to 22.3% of patients in 2025.
In addition, 15.0% of patients reported visiting a pharmacy before trying to make a GP appointment in 2025 — up from 14.1% of patients in 2024.
The survey also found that more than one-third of patients (35.3%) tried to treat themselves before making a GP appointment; more than one-quarter of patients (28.5%) said they looked online for information; and 10.1% of patients reported that they tried to get information or advice “from somewhere else”.
Commenting on the survey results, Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: “It’s great to see that over 80% of patients have a positive experience of using pharmacy services. These results echo what we saw in our 2024 Pharmacy Advice Audit, which found that community pharmacies save roughly 38 million GP appointments per year.
“Over 4.3 million people a year present at community pharmacies because they are unable to access their preferred part of the healthcare system, and more than half would have visited a GP surgery had they not been able to access a pharmacy.”
“This is further evidence of just how much patients rely on community pharmacies, and there is still significant scope for more referrals from general practice to pharmacy services. Services such as Pharmacy First can support patients, alleviate pressure on general practice and fund the advice that pharmacy teams provide,” she added.
Elen Jones, director of pharmacy at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “It’s great to see patient satisfaction with community pharmacy services continuing to rise. This shows more people are recognising the vital role pharmacists play in providing accessible, expert care and advice.
“With increasing numbers of patients being referred to pharmacies or choosing to visit them first, this data reinforces the importance of fully integrating pharmacy into the wider NHS.
“To build on this momentum, pharmacists must be provided with the right support and investment, so they can continue to provide high-quality care and reduce pressures on other parts of the health service.”
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said that the rise in patient satisfaction is “testament to the hard work of thousands of independent pharmacies up and down the land and their relentless dedication to improving patient care”.
“It is striking from this data just how many more patients are visiting pharmacies because they can’t access GP surgeries. This shows just how important Pharmacy First is and how it must be expanded so that no qualifying patient is ever turned away,” she added.
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, commented: “These results are testament to the excellent care provided by community pharmacies nationwide.
“With more patients relying on their local pharmacy, these figures should be a wake-up call to ministers. Without them putting a truly sustainable funding formula in place, we risk more pharmacies closing. This deprives patients and puts even more pressure on GPs. Ministers need to act now to stop this vicious circle.”
