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Public support is growing for weight-loss services in community pharmacies, with a majority of younger adults in favour, according to polling by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) — as prime minister Keir Starmer confirmed that pharmacies will play an essential role in delivering NHS access to weight-loss jabs.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Fit for the future: ten-year health plan for England‘ on 3 July 2025, Starmer confirmed the plans as part of shifting the NHS “away from being only a sickness service” to providing preventative care.
“That means a stronger focus on vaccination, on screening, early diagnosis. Things like innovative weight loss services — available in pharmacies,” he said.
The ten-year plan emphasises that pharmacists will take on expanded clinical roles, stating that, over the next five years, community pharmacy will transition from “being focused largely on dispensing medicines to becoming integral to the neighbourhood health service, offering more clinical services”.
It says that the government will test a range of models for weight loss services, which may include:
- Online-only models;
- Delivery in local communities, such as on high streets or in shopping centres;
- Models for rural and less urban geographies.
The plan follows a poll, commissioned by the NPA and shared with The Pharmaceutical Journal on 2 July 2025, which showed that 44% of UK adults would support NHS weight-loss services being delivered through community pharmacies, rising to 55% among those aged 16–34 years.
The polling — by Savanta — also found that 45% of the public wanted more minor illness treatment services from their local pharmacy, while a further 48% would like more local NHS services close to where they live.
One in five UK adults (22%) said they would go to a pharmacist for menopause advice and treatment, while 15% would be willing to see a pharmacist for follow up after a hospital appointment, the polling suggested.
The NPA cited analysis from IQVIA, showing 1.6 million packs of weight loss jabs Wegovy (semaglutide; Novo Nordic) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide; Eli Lilly) were bought in the UK in April 2025, with more than 1.4 million supplied through pharmacies.
In June 2025, pharmacy bodies warned that demand could exceed supply the weight loss jab Mounjaro, after it became eligible for primary care prescription to NHS patients.
At the time, the bodies said that pharmacies could offer support services to patients newly prescribed the drug.
