Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN02534
To:
- Integrated care board:
- medical directors
- chief pharmacists
- directors of medicines and pharmacy
- heads of primary care commissioning
cc.
- NHS England regions:
- directors of primary care
- chief pharmacists
- senior pharmacy integration leads
Dear colleagues,
Preparing for prescribing in national community pharmacy services
As set out in the recent letter confirming arrangements for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework for 2026/27, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England will introduce independent prescribing into NHS community pharmacy services from autumn 2026.
This follows the successful evaluation of the Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme and supports the ambitions set out in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework.
This letter explains the funding available to support implementation and what integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to do.
System readiness and funding for ICBs
A funding allocation for 2026/27 (Annex A) is available to ICBs to support preparation and implementation.
This funding recognises the work needed to establish safe, effective and sustainable prescribing-based national services within community pharmacy. This work will ensure oversight of primary care prescribing by building on business-as-usual processes and the governance and operational arrangements developed through the Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme.
The following activities have been identified:
- identifying and supporting pharmacy contractors to get ready for prescribing, including approving prescribing pharmacists and sites and setting up cost centres
- enabling and monitoring prescribing across Pharmacy First, Contraception and Prescription Management
- establishing or strengthening governance, assurance and monitoring arrangements
To help ICBs prepare for implementation, we have developed commissioning guidance for prescribing-based services and a professional assurance framework for delivering NHS community pharmacy clinical services. These resources will support the safe and consistent implementation of community pharmacy prescribing-based services. These documents have been developed in consultation with ICBs and pharmacy stakeholders, including the General Pharmaceutical Council, Royal College of Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy England.
Actions for ICBs
ICBs are asked to work with community pharmacy, to undertake the following actions;
- Agree and implement an operational governance process for overseeing prescribing delivery across community pharmacies in their geographic footprint. This should be reviewed annually.
- Put in place a process by August 2026 to identify, approve and onboard pharmacies, working with local stakeholders.
- Following publication of legal directions in autumn 2026, onboard all eligible pharmacies that have expressed an interest in becoming a prescribing pharmacy under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.
- By 31 March 2027, ensure that at least 95% of onboarded pharmacies are delivering prescriber-led consultations through the agreed clinical pathways (Pharmacy First and Contraception).
- By 31 March 2027, ensure that all onboarded pharmacies demonstrate prescribing activity, as recorded through ePACT.
Next steps
NHS England is convening a series of clinical reference groups to develop the criteria needed to support the introduction of independent prescribing into NHS community pharmacy services. Further details will be shared ahead of implementation.
We will also share plans for a Prescribing Development Programme to support locally commissioned, neighbourhood-based care models for community pharmacy.
Thank you for your leadership and support in delivering this transformation. Your work is essential to allowing community pharmacy to play a greater clinical role in patient care.
If you have any questions, contact Anne Joshua, Deputy Director of Pharmacy Transformation and Commissioning, or Wasim Baqir, Head of Pharmacy Integration, at ENGLAND.CommunityPharmacy@nhs.net.
Yours sincerely
Ali Sparke, Director of Pharmacy, Dental and Optometry, NHS England
David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, NHS England
Annex A: Implementing prescribing support funding
Funding amount: £51,000 per ICB or ICB cluster, depending on local transitional arrangements.
Where ICBs are operating as a cluster, a lead ICB should be nominated to receive the funding.
The funding is only available for 2026/27.
It is available to support the introduction of the new prescribing elements in the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework in 2026/27, as set out in this letter.
The funding is intended solely to recognise the additional work required by ICBs to develop processes to support prescribing by community pharmacy. ICBs can use it as they see fit to secure additional implementation support, including from local community pharmacy leadership teams such as the local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs).