Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help increase the use of community pharmacies for (a) detection, (b) prevention and (c) other services; and if he will make a statement.

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal commits £2.592 billion per year to the sector and outlines a joint vision for how community pharmacy will be more integrated into the National Health Service, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses. We have commissioned a range of services through the CPCF; for example, NHS 111 and GPs can refer patients to community pharmacies for advice and treatment for minor illnesses. NHS 111 can also refer for urgent medicines supply. Many pharmacies now also offer blood pressure checks.

In September last year we announced the agreement for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. This agreement continues the expansion of the services offered by community pharmacies by enabling community pharmacists to manage and initiate contraception and enabling urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply. We continue to discuss with the sector what more community pharmacies could sustainably do, making use of their valuable clinical skills for the benefit of patients and the NHS.