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Well Pharmacy in Keighley, West Yorkshire, has become the first community pharmacy to go live as part of the ‘Independent prescribing in community pharmacy pathfinder programme’, using an electronic prescription service (EPS) specifically designed for the pilot.
Under the pathfinder programme, 210 community pharmacies across all 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England will trial independent prescribing for a range of conditions, including minor illnesses and long-term conditions, as part of a locally-commissioned — but nationally funded — clinical service.
The pilot has been highly anticipated following the news that, from 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists would become prescribers from the point of registration.
IT provider CLEO Systems is hosting the EPS that will be used by pharmacies participating in the pilot, and it was announced in August 2024 that the system was ready for rollout.
Ifti Khan, pharmacy superintendent at Well Pharmacy, which is part of the Bestway Group, said: “Our colleagues were excited to have the opportunity to support this transformational initiative and the wider NHS, enabling pharmacy to truly be the first point of contact for patients with minor ailments.”
“We are looking forward to watching the benefit this service will have to local patients and how we can continue to support the government’s agenda of Pharmacy First and early detection and prevention,” he added.
While the Well Pharmacy branch in Keighley, West Yorkshire is the first ‘pathfinder site’ to use the CLEO EPS system, Wasim Baqir, senior pharmacist for the Pharmacy Integration Fund at NHS England, announced at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress in May 2024, that 14 pathfinder sites had gone live prior to the EPS being ready.
Commenting on the Keighley site, Richard Burton, commercial director at CLEO Systems, said: “We are so pleased to see the success of this first deployment of CLEO SOLO EPS in this ambitious and exciting project. It has been an absolute pleasure for the team to work with NHS England, the ICBs, other system providers and pharmacies on this significant programme.”
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “The ‘Independent prescribing pathfinder programme’ is designed to help the health service prepare for the inclusion of prescribing in community pharmacy-based clinical services, which will improve patient access to care in a safe way.
“This is part of our plan for all newly qualified pharmacists to be trained in prescribing from 2026 onwards.”
The pathfinder programme is aimed to explore how community pharmacists can deliver independent prescribing across all regions of England, ahead of establishing a national commissioning framework for the service, which was originally scheduled for March 2024.
The pathfinder site pharmacies taking part in the scheme were originally planned to launch in January 2023 but faced complications owing to issues with funding and implementation.
In August 2024, NHS England said that it had transferred funding to ICBs “to support project management, clinical supervision and local evaluation” in June 2024 and that it had asked ICBs “to provide support and leadership to pathfinder sites over the course of the programme (to March 2025)”.
The University of Manchester has been commissioned to report on what has been delivered under the pathfinder programme by early 2025, including the number of sessions held, the number of patients seen, the number of prescriptions issued and the impact on health inequalities.
The university will also be expected to assess the future viability of independent prescribing in community pharmacy and develop recommendations for the service in the future.
