Company Chemists' Association
Some 190 pharmacies taking part in the ‘Independent prescribing in community pharmacy pathfinder programme’ have now delivered over 30,000 patient consultations, according to NHS England data shared at the Company Chemists’ Association’s (CCA) inaugural conference.
Speaking at the CCA conference, held in London 11 September 2025, Alex Morton, group director of primary care at NHS England, said that of these consultations, “almost 60% have resulted in prescribing activity that would have been done somewhere else”.
More than 97% of these episodes were closed in community pharmacy without onward referral, she added.
Morton also confirmed that more than 20,000 items have been prescribed by pathfinder pharmacists “across most of the BNF [British National Formulary] therapeutical categories”.
“These interim findings are giving us some really good indications of the opportunity in the future, and we’re really hopeful and confident that the success of the pathfinder sites can become part and parcel of what we do for local and national commissioning over the coming years,” she said.
The aim of the programme is to trial different independent prescribing models within community pharmacies, in efforts to inform a commissioning framework for this service.
The programme was originally due to launch in January 2023 but has faced delays owing to funding issues.
From summer 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be able to prescribe independently from registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
At the CCA conference, Mark Koziol, chair of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, asked Morton what funding pharmacies would receive in future for delivering an independent prescribing service.
“£4,000 a month goes to community pharmacies which enables a second pharmacist, in the vast majority of pathfinder sites, to be employed. This is a massive reason for the success that resulted. Can we rely on those conditions being replicated going forward?” he said.
Morton replied: “I can’t guarantee that we’re going to be able to replicate this entirely, but we will absolutely take the learning from places, including the pathfinders, and look at how we can use the funding settlements that we get to the best effect that we can for the sector.”
