The 10-Year Health Plan: A win for community pharmacy?

The government’s 10-Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious transformation for the NHS underpinned by three major shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. At the heart of this transformation is the proposed development of a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’, where pharmacy is set to play a vital role.

The plan outlines a clear transition for community pharmacy, from a predominantly dispensing to a more clinical, preventative and digitally-enabled role. Over the next five years, the government proposes that community pharmacies will:

• Manage long-term conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
• Deliver more preventative services, including vaccinations and screening for cardiovascular disease and diabetes
• Support complex medication regimes and offer independent prescribing
• Be linked into the Single Patient Record, enabling more seamless service delivery

These proposals build on the success of existing services like Pharmacy First and hypertension case-finding, both of which demonstrate the value of pharmacy in improving access and early intervention. However, this success hinged on public awareness, strong pharmacy leadership, and swift IT integration – which must be central strategies if ambitions for the sector are to be realised.

Pharmacies are critical for prevention as they are well-embedded in local communities, but particularly so in underserved areas that often face the highest burden of chronic disease. However, pharmacies must be equipped with the right tools and training. Innovative diagnostic technologies, such as point-of-care testing, can support early detection and intervention. Although there have been some promising pilots, they are not yet used at scale. Deploying such tools in tandem with workforce training will be essential to delivering preventative services in community pharmacies.

Public Policy Projects (PPP) has previously advocated for a more integrated role for community pharmacy, parity across primary care and a broader understanding of the sector’s role beyond clinical services and medicines optimisation.

Community pharmacies are hyper-local, highly trusted and universally accessible, offering huge potential to deliver social value. From providing culturally sensitive health advice, supporting marginalised populations, or acting as an informal hub for wellbeing, community pharmacies are ideal settings to form part of the emerging Neighbourhood Health Service.

However, unlike general practice, community pharmacies do not hold registered patient lists and often serve individuals who move across geographical boundaries. As such, new services must be designed around the needs of patients, not tied to artificial catchment areas. Primary care contracts which are complementary and integrated by nature, allowing providers to collaborate, not compete, will be essential to seamless service delivery.

The 10-Year Health Plan marks a pivotal moment for community pharmacy. It recognises many of the sector’s often overlooked strengths and proposes a more strategic role for pharmacies in health and care delivery. However, these opportunities must be matched with sustainable funding, contractual reform, and meaningful collaboration across all system partners.

Next steps

To further explore the implications of the 10-Year Health Plan and engage with PPP’s Pharmacy and Medicines work, please contact: Samantha Semmeling, Policy and Programmes Manager, Public Policy Projects (samantha.semmeling@publicpolicyprojects.com)