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Patient and pharmacist confidence in prescribing for acute, self-limiting conditions “could serve as a design principle for expanding prescribing” across England, a report commissioned by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) suggests.
However, in the report, published on 16 July 2026, the NPA warned that a lack of awareness of prescribing services, difficulties securing training opportunities, limited integrated IT systems, uncertain funding and poor relationships with GPs could hinder community pharmacist prescribing.
In the report, the NPA highlighted the results of a survey it conducted, which received responses from 482 respondents, 187 of which were community pharmacists — 94 of those community pharmacists held a prescribing qualification, but about one-third were not actively using it — and 76 were other primary care prescribers, commissioners and service planners, while 219 were patients.
Those respondents who were prescribing (n=60) did so across a range of private (n=22) or NHS services (n=13), or both (n=30), the survey showed.
It also revealed that of the 55 pharmacists surveyed who were actively prescribing, more than three-quarters (76%, n=42) reported that prescribing was most used for minor ailments and acute self-limiting conditions, followed by ear, nose and throat conditions (69%, n=38), UTIs (65%, n=36), dermatological conditions (64%, n=35), weight management (51%, n=28) and allergic conditions (51%, n=28).
More than two-thirds of patients (68%, n=147/216) were already aware that pharmacists could prescribe, but 32% were uncertain (18%, n=39/216) or unaware (14%, n=30/216), the survey results highlighted.
According to the report, pharmacists suggested that many patients didn’t understand what those in the role can prescribe for, when it would be an appropriate choice and how to access it.
The report also revealed a lack of clarity among local and national commissioners. Three-quarters (75%, n=9/12) of local and national commissioners reported that they or their integrated care board had been part of the ‘Independent prescribing in community pharmacy pathfinder programme’, but more than one-quarter (29%, n=2/7) didn’t know if pharmacist prescribing had been continued after that.
The survey results showed that among clinical prescribers and managers, more than one-third (37%, n=21/57) said they did not know if community pharmacist prescribing was commissioned in their area, which the report said “reflects how poorly integrated community pharmacy is into the awareness of other primary care professionals, even in areas where services exist”.
The NPA asked 150 pharmacists which areas of prescribing currently add the most value, and nearly three-quarters (72%, n=108) said using prescribing to manage minor acute illnesses, while more than half (59%, n=88) said providing services in accessible locations patients.
In addition, more than one-third (39%, n=58) of pharmacists reported convenient appointments for patients as having the most value, while one-third (32%, n=48) considered medicines expertise and safety, and nearly one-quarter (24%, n=36) said that GP or nurses’ workload had the most value.
These survey results reflected patient views on community pharmacist prescribing, with 88% of respondents (n=186/212) very comfortable or comfortable with pharmacist prescribing for an infected insect bite, compared with a sore throat with mild fever (83%, n=173/212), cold symptoms that lasted more than ten days and could be sinusitis (74%, n=156/211), contraception (62%, n=121/195) and worsening asthma (55%, n=115/206).
The report suggested that the findings reflect concerns recorded in the survey, including “worry about whether the pharmacist has access to their full medical history; concern about chronic condition management requiring specialist knowledge; and for contraception specifically, questions about privacy and sensitivity”.
Among 58 other professionals who answered the value question, more than half (55%, n=32) saw value in using community pharmacist prescribing for minor acute illnesses, followed by ongoing medication reviews for long-term conditions (29%, n=17) and medicines expertise and safety (28%, n=16).
However, free text comments identified concerns about pharmacists’ clinical competence in diagnosis and prescribing in a community setting.
The report also suggested that community pharmacist prescribing services could begin with conditions where patient comfort is already high, such as self-limiting minor ailments, and progressively build towards more complex presentations.
“This approach would also address other professionals’ concerns about pace of expansion, meeting the ‘demonstrate competence first’ position while still creating a funded pathway for growth,” it said.
Commenting on the study, Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, said: “We welcome the NPA’s report. Independent prescribing is a generational opportunity to significantly expand the care available through community pharmacy.
“The ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework’ 2026/2027 announced earlier this year includes some funding for independent prescribing, which is welcome, but further funding and greater ambition is needed to not only increase prescribing capacity and training, but also enhance the digital interoperability needed to enable prescribing to be delivered effectively at scale.”
Amandeep Doll, director for England at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said: “It’s encouraging to see growing confidence in pharmacist independent prescribing from both patients and the profession. As more pharmacists qualify as prescribers, there’s a real opportunity to improve access to care and make better use of pharmacists’ clinical expertise.
“Qualifying as a prescriber is a significant milestone, but pharmacists also need the right support to put those skills into practice with confidence. That means having joined-up IT systems that give pharmacists access to integrated patient records, alongside ongoing professional development and strong collaboration across primary care.”
