Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with community pharmacists on how they can (a) support GPs and (b) help relieve the pressures on GP waiting lists.

Departmental Ministers and officials regularly discuss a range of matters with community pharmacists and other stakeholders in the sector.

Under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 five-year deal, community pharmacy will be more integrated into the National Health Service, deliver more clinical services. NHS111 can refer patients to a community pharmacist for minor illness or the urgent supply of a prescribed medicine. At the end of last year, we extended this service to general practitioner surgeries, who can now also formally refer patients to community pharmacy for consultation. We expect to introduce more clinical services in community pharmacy to relieve pressure on other parts of the NHS.