Pharmacy: Qualifications
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of community pharmacists who currently hold an Independent Prescribing qualification in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
From autumn 2026, a national NHS Independent Prescribing (IP) offer will be introduced in community pharmacy following the conclusion of the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England.
Funding to support the introduction of IP will be provided to pharmacy contractors via a one-off £500 set up fee, a £525 monthly infrastructure fee, and through the existing consultation fees and fixed payments related to Pharmacy First and the Pharmacy Contraception Service. The services will be optional to pharmacy contractors with access to an independent prescriber.
In 2025, there were 3,154 community pharmacists reported as currently holding independent prescribing qualifications in England. From September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers from the day of registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. In addition, NHS England provides funding for more than 3,000 places for post-registration independent prescribing training each year, at a cost of more than £6 million annually. This will increase the number of IPs in the workforce and the coverage of services that make full use of their clinical skills.
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