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Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), has warned that the introduction of a single national formulary (SNF) risks making medicine shortages worse.
Speaking at the Community Pharmacy and General Practice Conference — held in Birmingham, West Midlands, on 21–22 June 2026 — Picard told delegates that he appreciated a national formulary would bring “equality” in terms of what medicines are available to patients across the country.
However, he said: “In a world where we are seeing the drug shortages that we are.. it is going to make matters worse. It’s also going to stop innovation, whether we like it or not. The national formulary will restrict entry into the market, we’re already seeing problems with medicines not being available in certain parts of the country. I personally think that we [should] retain what we have.”
Currently, formularies are locally maintained documents that list medicines deemed suitable for prescribing within the local area. These are drawn up by locally constituted groups of clinicians from both secondary and primary care, with occasional commissioner or patient input.
In its ‘Fit for the future: ten-year health plan for England‘, published on 3 July 2025, the government promised an SNF for medicines within the next two years. In May 2026, NHS England said it will begin testing a prototype this year.
Mark Samuels, chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents manufacturers of generic medicines, told The Pharmaceutical Journal on 24 June 2026: “It’s too early to predict the precise impact of the proposed SNF.
“In principle, its development presents an opportunity to support clinicians in prescribing the most appropriate and cost-effective medicines for the benefit of patients, independent of where they live in the UK.
“The details of its implementation will need to be carefully worked through, and we are closely liaising with government partners in its rollout to maximise patient benefit and access.”
In a position paper published on 27 March 2026, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) stressed that an SNF must not “weaken the funding mandate, create new barriers or bottlenecks, or further delay the adoption of new medicines and indications”, nor should it “be driven by a focus on cost containment or restrict clinical autonomy and patient choice”.
“Getting this wrong would risk hindering clinician autonomy, patient outcomes and would also undermine progress towards a globally competitive environment for innovation,” the ABPI warned, calling for urgent clarity from government “on how the SNF will be an enabler for delivering more rapid and equitable adoption of innovative medicines”.
