Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of community pharmacies in maintaining public health.

Pharmacies are commissioned to deliver a range of evidence-based services that contribute to public health, including providing advice on maintaining health, treatment for common conditions, identifying people with high blood pressure, initiating and managing oral contraception, and providing vaccination services.

National Health Service pharmaceutical services delivered in community pharmacy are also subject to evaluations to assess outcomes such as clinical appropriateness, and impacts on patients and other parts of the NHS. This includes the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s evaluation of Pharmacy First to assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice setting, use of hospitals, and how the service has impacted access to care and costs for different patient groups.