Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support the long-term (a) financial and (b) operational sustainability of community pharmacies.

The Government has been clear that community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, bringing healthcare to the heart of the high street, as set out in our 10-Year Health Plan.

There are over 10,400 pharmacies in England. Despite a reduction in the number of pharmacies, access to pharmacies remains good. Over 80% of the population live within one mile of a pharmacy and there are twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. In some rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines to their patients. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the over 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver medicines they dispense free of charge to patients.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is also additional funding available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.