Alamy.com
Lower pay and a lack of career progression for pharmacists and other allied healthcare professionals in the community sector means the shift to neighbourhood health may not be delivered, the Health and Social Care Committee has told the government.
In a letter to health minister Karin Smyth, sent on 8 January 2026, Layla Moran, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, wrote: “The government’s desired shift towards neighbourhood health will not be delivered if the community sector offers staff worse pay, fewer opportunities to advance their careers and make use of their skills, and poorer training and supervision than the acute sector.”
As a result, “the upcoming [NHS] ten-year workforce plan must contain clear and concrete proposals to address these challenges and make the community a more attractive place for staff to work and build a career”, she added.
The letter follows a workforce evidence session held by the Health and Social Care Committee in November 2025 on delivering the neighbourhood health service.
During the session, witnesses gave evidence that there was a “lower status” attached to community work, “with negative perceptions of community-based roles as being less interesting or challenging … starting in undergraduate training” and fewer opportunities for career progression compared with acute settings, Moran said.
Moran also noted a lack of training and supervision, as well as lower pay in the community setting compared with secondary care.
“Witnesses were clear that staff need appropriate support and training to allow them to work effectively in neighbourhood settings and be able to meet population need,” she added.
“It could not be assumed that staff could simply transfer from an acute to a community setting.”
In addition, Moran said witnesses had raised a lack of protected continuing professional development as a “significant barrier” to skill development and that staff shortages “meant that it was difficult for staff to be away from their jobs to engage in training”.
The letter referenced evidence presented to the Health and Social Care Committee by Amandeep Doll, director for England at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, during the session, which revealed that one-third of pharmacists are prescribers; however, less than 10% of those pharmacists work in community pharmacy.
Commissioning prescribing services nationally would allow pharmacists to utilise all the skills they have, improving job satisfaction, Doll recommended.
She also said that too few clinical supervisors in the community setting limited the availability of foundation training places.
Pharmacists were also prevented from engaging in offsite training because they have to be present in the pharmacy for medicines to be supplied, Doll added.
Since 7 January 2026, pharmacists have been able to authorise pharmacy technicians to hand out checked and bagged prescriptions, while from 10 December 2026, pharmacists will be able to authorise a pharmacy technician to undertake or supervise the preparation, assembly, dispensing and sale and supply of medicines that would otherwise need to be performed or supervised by a pharmacist, following legislation changes.
Referring to the upcoming NHS ten-year workforce plan in her letter, Moran said the contribution that allied healthcare professionals make “continues to be undervalued, with a lack of meaningful opportunities to progress their careers in the health service, particularly to leadership positions”.
“The [NHS] ten-year workforce plan should include proposals for a dedicated training and support programme for allied healthcare professionals, enabling them to gain and develop the leadership skills and experience they need to compete for leadership positions,” she said.
Commenting on the letter, Doll said: “Pharmacists will play a key role in delivering the future NHS and must be at the table on new approaches to neighbourhood health.
“Pharmacist prescribing has the potential to transform patient care, and the government needs to seize this opportunity and work with the sector to commission new services that will use their enhanced skills.
“As pharmacists play a more clinical role, the NHS workforce plan must ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy teams get the support they need, including protected learning time, and investment in education and training.”
