Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the use of community pharmacies will be incorporated into implementation of the Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services, published on 30 January 2023.

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 five-year deal sets out how community pharmacy will become more integrated into the NHS, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses.

Through the deal, we introduced the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS), whereby NHS111 can refer patients to community pharmacies for urgent medicines supply and advice and treatment for minor illnesses. General practitioners can also refer patients for advice and treatment for minor illnesses.

In September 2022 we announced the agreement for the remaining two years of the deal. As part of this, the CPCS will be expanded this spring to enable urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for minor illness consultation or for urgent medicine supply.