Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal at ensuring that community pharmacies are viable; and whether she plans to renew that Framework.

Community Pharmacy contractors are private businesses offering National Health Service and private services and products, and many factors will affect their viability.

The five-year deal commits £2.592 billion per year to community pharmacy for providing NHS services and this was topped up by an additional £100 million across this and last financial year. Additional funding will be available for the Pharmacy First service and the expansion of the existing blood pressure check and contraception services.

To support future discussions on funding, NHS England is commissioning an economic study of the costs of providing pharmaceutical services.