Neighbourhood health centres: where does community pharmacy fit in?

It has been more than a year since the NHS ten-year plan for England was published, in which the government set out three “radical” shifts for how the NHS would work.

One of these shifts is moving care out of hospitals into the community. As part of this, the government introduced the idea of the neighbourhood health service to focus on collaborative working across local health systems.

The plan said that, over five years, community pharmacy would move from “being focused largely on dispensing medicines to becoming integral to the neighbourhood health service, offering more clinical services”.

The plans for neighbourhood health include a neighbourhood health centre “in every community” — open at least 12 hours per day and six days per week — which the government described as a “one-stop shop” for patient care and the place from where multidisciplinary teams would operate.

The government is beginning with the more deprived areas in England, announcing in March 2026 that the first 27 centres will open by 2027, which will offer “urgent treatment, GP and pharmacy services”. It said it will introduce two new forms of contract for local providers: “single neighbourhood providers” to deliver services for around 50,000 people and “multi-neighbourhood providers” for populations of around 250,000.

There were no specifics on who could hold these contracts but in response to an NHS England consultation on how contracts for neighbourhood health services should work, the Royal College of Pharmacy called for “explicit” recognition of community pharmacies as part of the delivery model, saying the proposed contracts were too centred on general practice and existing NHS providers.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference, held in Liverpool in September 2026, Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said she had seen “very little evidence” of pharmacy being built into neighbourhood health plans, adding that she knew of only “two or three” cases where pharmacy had been involved. Morrison said involvement in those cases had been “made possible by small amounts of funding to enable community pharmacy to be involved in the discussions and planning”.

Pharmacy minister Dame Diana Johnson, who was on the conference panel with Morrison, said: “We want to have a proper discussion about what reform means, in terms of [our] neighbourhood healthcare offer and [how] pharmacists fit into that.”

With the first neighbourhood health centres due to open in 2027, the extent to which community pharmacy is involved in their planning is becoming increasingly important. Pharmacy leaders in several areas where the first centres are planned say they have so far seen limited evidence of meaningful involvement.

A seat at the table?

Conor Price, chief executive of Community Pharmacy London, tells The Pharmaceutical Journal: “Our visibility of meaningful community pharmacy involvement in the planning of neighbourhood health centres remains limited.”

He says that this does not mean that involvement is absent everywhere, but adds: “It is telling that we cannot readily point to examples of community pharmacy helping shape these developments from the outset.”

In the West Midlands, Stephen Noble, chief executive of Community Pharmacy Black Country, says his organisation is “still trying” to be involved in planning. “Even though Walsall has been designated a pathfinder area … we cannot get a seat around the table yet,” he notes.

Walsall was one of 43 areas chosen in September 2025 for the first wave of the national neighbourhood health implementation programme. The Black Country also has one of the first 27 centres, in Oldbury, Sandwell.

Nicola Goodberry Kenneally, chief executive of Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire, a location for two of the first 27 neighbourhood health centres — Beeston Hill in Leeds and Westbourne Green in Bradford — also says pharmacy involvement has been limited.

“We would not describe community pharmacy as currently being embedded as an equal partner in the planning of these centres,” she notes. “Progress has been relatively slow and securing a meaningful role for community pharmacy in the planning process has been challenging.”

Goodberry Kenneally says that, as the local pharmaceutical committee, her organisation has primarily been involved through engagement and advocacy on behalf of pharmacies, rather than directly in planning.

“We have also been engaging with pharmacies located within the respective neighbourhoods and encouraging them to make sure they have a visible presence within the emerging neighbourhood health model,” she adds.

“This includes ensuring that local decision-makers and partners are aware of the breadth of services those pharmacies already provide and the contribution they could make to the wider neighbourhood health offer.”

Greater involvement

Experiences of involvement do appear to vary between local systems.

A spokesperson for NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (ICB) — where another centre is planned as part of the initial rollout — says: “The steering group for the new centre in Hinckley, in Leicestershire, includes a community pharmacy, which is supporting us to develop our plans alongside other key local partners.

“Local pharmacies are highly valued partners for the services they deliver and, as our plans progress, we will be consulting with them on how best they can be integrated into neighbourhood health delivery.”

Louise Coughlan, integrated care system chief pharmacist at NHS West and North London ICB, which has 3 of the first 27 centres, says that, as it shapes its neighbourhood health model, “we are working closely with pharmacy colleagues to support its development and delivery”.

At the Hornsey centre in Haringey, NHS England has said a “long-vacant former pharmacy unit” will be brought back into use, with expanded services and improved facilities for the existing dementia care centre.

However, commissioners in some areas have said pharmacy teams have lacked engagement. A spokesperson for NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB, where the existing Long Eaton Health Centre is being upgraded to become a neighbourhood health centre, says that although it has “worked with our pharmacy colleagues within the ICB on the project”, a nearby community pharmacy has yet to engage with it.

“We’re keeping them on the stakeholder list so they continue to get updates as the project progresses,” the spokesperson adds.

Meaningful involvement

In London, where 6 of the first 27 centres are planned, Price says there is a distinction between involving community pharmacy in the design of neighbourhood services and approaching a pharmacy only once plans for a health centre are taking shape.

“An invitation to become a tenant is not, in itself, meaningful involvement in planning services,” he says.

Price argues that community pharmacies should instead be involved as partners in developing neighbourhood health services, with decisions based on patient need rather than the financial requirements of NHS estates.

“Our position is that community pharmacy should be a partner in neighbourhood health, not treated as a source of rental income to make an NHS estate financially viable,” he says.

Price raises worries about the potential cost of occupying premises in the new centres, saying some pharmacy teams have previously experienced “serious viability concerns” because of premises costs.

He says those experiences should inform the approach to the new centres, with rents and service charges that pharmacies can “sustainably afford”.

The question of involvement extends beyond whether a pharmacy moves into a neighbourhood health centre.

Price says co-location could affect patient flows between pharmacies, with consequences for existing pharmacies and the communities they serve. He raises concerns that patients could be directed towards a co-located pharmacy, either explicitly or through the way services are organised.

Price adds that patient choice must be protected and that developments should not destabilise the wider community pharmacy network.

A role beyond co-location

For community pharmacy leaders, the opportunity presented by neighbourhood health centres is not simply about securing space within new NHS buildings.

Goodberry Kenneally says community pharmacy must be considered an “integral part of neighbourhood health planning, rather than being brought into discussions once the model and services have already been established”.

“There is a significant opportunity to build on the accessibility, reach and existing service provision of community pharmacies, particularly in areas where improving access and tackling health inequalities are key priorities,” she adds.

The contrasting accounts suggest that the extent to which community pharmacy is involved in neighbourhood health planning may depend on the local system — and on what is meant by “involvement” in the first place.

With the first centres due to open in 2027, the question for pharmacy may not be whether it has a role in neighbourhood health but whether it is being given the opportunity to help shape what that role looks like.