Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of promoting further engagement between pharmacists and integrated care boards.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory duty to have at least one primary care representative on their board who in turn has a duty to represent all contractors in developing plans for meeting the health needs of the population, managing the National Health Service budget and arranging for the provision of health services in a geographical area.

All ICBs have taken on delegated responsibility from NHS England for the commissioning of pharmaceutical services enabling ICBs to better integrate community pharmacy into the NHS in their area.