Pharmacist independent prescribing (IP) has been increasingly recognised as a means of improving access to timely clinical care, optimising safe medicines use and supporting clinical capacity within primary care. As commissioning of pharmacist-led clinical services in community settings expands, there remains a need to describe how such services are experienced by patients and how they may influence wider healthcare utilisation.
This article outlines patient-reported outcomes from a community pharmacy–based IP consultation service delivered in East Sussex from August 2025 to December 2025. This was a collaborative delivery approach aligning colleagues from NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB), Community Pharmacy Surrey and Sussex, general practice and community pharmacy.
The service was an NHS England IP pathfinder pilot service and decommissioned on 31 December 2025. The idea behind the pilot service was establish the future of IP services and learn from those pathfinder sites. Each ICB submitted a therapeutic area to commission and there were various pathfinders across England.
Demand for HRT reviews continues to place pressure on general practice. Previous work has demonstrated that clinical pharmacist-led HRT reviews supported by digital tools in GP practices are safe, effective and well received by patients. Building on this model, the Sussex IP pathfinder programme enabled community pharmacist independent prescribers (PIPs) to undertake HRT reviews and ongoing prescribing for patients referred from partnering GP surgeries.
We report findings from a patient satisfaction survey evaluating this novel pathway that was developed to improve access to timely menopause care.
A total of 29 HRT reviews were completed across two community pharmacies. PIPs safely reviewed, continued or amended HRT therapy and communicated outcomes back to the patients registered GPs. The pathway reduced the need for GP appointments and improved patient access to timely reviews.
Post-consultation patient satisfaction questionnaires were completed by 20 service users. The evaluation focused on patient experience, perceived usefulness and impact on access to care. All data were anonymised and analysed in aggregate.
All respondents were female, with ages ranging from 49 to 67 years. More than three-quarters (80%) described their ethnicity as white British, with additional representation from other white backgrounds and mixed ethnicity, which is representative of the local area.
A total of 15 patients attended following referral from a GP or another healthcare professional, 4 were invited by a member of the community pharmacy team and one attended as a walk-in for advice or treatment.
Prescribed HRT was changed or stopped for 10 patients, while 10 did not require a change to their existing medication.
All 20 respondents reported that the service completely met their needs. All stated that they would be very likely to use the service again and that they would recommend it to others.
The majority (19) of patients reported that they would have sought care from their GP, had the pharmacy IP service not been available. One indicated that they would not have accessed alternative healthcare services. These findings demonstrate that the service has the potential to reduce demand on GP appointments while delivering care that patients value.
This evaluation demonstrates that PIPs can successfully deliver HRT reviews within a primary care setting in collaboration with GP partners. Patients reported excellent satisfaction, high willingness to reuse the service and strong endorsement through recommendation to others. Importantly, most respondents indicated that the service prevented a GP consultation, highlighting its potential contribution to system resilience.
While limited by small sample size and reliance on patient-reported outcomes, these findings support the further development and scaling of community pharmacy IP-led HRT services as part of integrated women’s health pathways.
Marie Hockley, deputy chief officer, Community Pharmacy Surrey and Sussex
Suneeta Kochhar, clinical director and clinical lead for cardiovascular disease prevention and women’s health, NHS Sussex
Ethics and governance
This work was undertaken as a service evaluation and patient satisfaction survey. All data were anonymised prior to analysis.
Declaration of interests
None declared.
