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Community pharmacies exceeded targets for the pharmacy contraception and hypertension case-finding services in 2024/2025, according to data published by NHS England.
Board papers, published on 27 March 2025, revealed that from April 2024 to February 2025, community pharmacies exceeded targets for blood pressure checks and oral contraception consultations by 181% and 57%, respectively.
During that period, 199,182 blood pressure checks were delivered by community pharmacies with a target of 71,000 checks. In addition, 40,467 oral contraception consultations were delivered against a target of 25,800 consultations.
The papers added that in December 2024, 257,048 Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations were completed.
NHS England said it wanted to achieve 320,000 consultations per month by March 2025, and the number of consultations was “steadily rising”.
Under the newly announced contract for community pharmacy in England for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026, pharmacies must be registered to provide the pharmacy contraception and hypertension case-finding services to receive the Pharmacy First monthly payment.
From October 2025, community pharmacies must also deliver at least one ambulatory blood pressure reading per month.
In addition, from March 2026, community pharmacies must also deliver a specific number of contraception consultations per month, which is yet to be agreed by Community Pharmacy England and the government.
Commenting on the NHS England data, Elen Jones, director for England and Wales at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “This data shows that despite the pressures on community pharmacies, they have stepped up to provide these services, demonstrating their key role in enhancing patient care.
”Pharmacy First has significantly expanded access to essential treatment, which is an enormous benefit for patients.”
Gareth Jones, director of corporate affairs at the National Pharmacy Association, said: “The progress that has already been made provides a foundation for growth. This is against the backdrop of huge capacity pressures in community pharmacy, so pharmacy teams have worked their socks off to deliver these important NHS services on top of the medicines supply day job and existing clinical services.”
A spokesperson for the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) said: “Community pharmacy contractors, particularly IPA members, have always stepped up and delivered, despite being on their knees financially due to chronic underfunding.”
In November 2024, GPs in England backed a motion calling for an end to community pharmacy blood pressure checks “with immediate effect”.
The motion described “wastefulness” in paying a seventh of a practice’s general medical services fee per patient for a blood pressure check, which it said “generates more work for the practice”.
Data obtained by The Pharmaceutical Journal and published in April 2025, showed that of 10,555 pharmacies in England, 1,539 (15%) pharmacies stopped providing at least one of four advanced services since 2021, including blood pressure checks and contraception services.
Some of these pharmacies subsequently re-registered to provide the services.
