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Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the government is planning to accelerate the roll-out of independent prescribing (IP) in community pharmacy to help improve access to general practice.
On 9 October 2024, in response to a question put to him at prime minister’s questions (PMQs) on what the government is doing to improve access to general practice, Starmer said: “We are going to expand the role of community pharmacies and accelerate the roll-out of independent prescribing. We need much more care to be delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier.”
The prime minister also mentioned training more GPs and referenced the wider changes and improvements to the NHS that the government wants to deliver.
In September 2024, responses to NHS England’s community pharmacy workforce survey revealed that the number of pharmacist independent prescribers in England increased by 37% in the year to autumn 2023.
However, results from The Pharmaceutical Journal’s 2024 salary survey, published in September 2024, showed that only 14% of 322 community pharmacist respondents were independent prescribers, compared with 53% of hospital pharmacists and 71% of pharmacists in general practice.
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, commented: “We were very pleased to hear the prime minister talking so positively about community pharmacy at PMQs, and we agree with him that community pharmacies hold the answer to improving access to wider primary care.
“Of course, as we are actively discussing with ministers, this can only happen if community pharmacies themselves are put on an economically sustainable footing. We are looking forward to working with government on how we can make this happen and support pharmacies to deliver on their ambitions for independent prescribing, and for the wider health service — we are ready to begin these discussions, and hope to do so very soon.”
Paul Rees, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, added: “It’s good to see the government support the expansion of the role of community pharmacy and independent prescribing.
“However, pharmacies are also closing at a record rate, with seven a week closing so far this year and many more reducing their opening hours due to the impact of 40% cuts.
“It is only with additional funding and an end to pharmacy closures that pharmacies can fulfil their full potential and take pressure away from overstretched GPs and hospital services.”
In June 2024, the Labour Party manifesto included a pledge to create a ‘Community pharmacist prescribing service’, “granting more pharmacists independent prescribing rights where appropriate”.
The first 14 ‘Independent prescribing pathfinder programme’ pharmacies went live in May 2024. Under the programme, 210 community pharmacies across all 42 integrated care boards in England will trial independent prescribing for a range of conditions as part of a locally commissioned, nationally funded clinical service.
Meanwhile, 181 of 686 pharmacies in Wales are providing the ‘Pharmacy independent prescribing service’, with more than 92,000 consultations completed in the year to the end of April 2024.
In Scotland, 354 out of 1,243 community pharmacies were providing the ‘Pharmacy First Plus’ service. Community Pharmacy Scotland’s aim is to have one independent prescriber in every pharmacy to provide 100% coverage by 2030.
