When to Outsource Clinical Pharmacist Services (and How It Works)

• 15th June 2025
• Clinically reviewed by: Adeem Azhar, MPharm, IPres

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September 2026

• What does outsourcing clinical pharmacist services mean?
• When should a PCN or practice consider outsourcing?
• How does clinical pharmacist outsourcing work?
• Can outsourced clinical pharmacists be funded through ARRS?
• What are the main benefits of outsourcing?
• How to choose a clinical pharmacist service provider

GP practices and PCNs may choose to outsource clinical pharmacist services when recruitment gaps, limited capacity or the management demands of an in-house pharmacy team begin to affect delivery.

A great outsourced model should provide more than pharmacist and pharmacy technician hours. It should integrate clinicians into existing practice workflows, provide appropriate governance and supervision, and give the organisation clear oversight of activity and performance.

Updated September 2026

Key takeaways

• Clinical pharmacist outsourcing can provide additional capacity without requiring the practice or PCN to recruit and manage every pharmacist directly.
• Outsourcing is most useful when there is a defined workload or service need, such as medication reviews, long-term condition work or prescribing backlogs.
• Where ARRS pharmacist support is being claimed, the service must meet the current Network Contract DES requirements, including continuity and the full clinical pharmacist role.

What does outsourcing clinical pharmacist services mean?

Outsourced clinical pharmacist services are provided through an external organisation rather than the pharmacist being employed directly by the GP practice, GP Federation or PCN.

The pharmacist still works as part of the primary care team and may access the same clinical systems, complete patient consultations and work with GPs, nurses and other professionals.

Depending on the agreed scope, support may include:

• Structured Medication Reviews
• Long-term condition medicines management
• Repeat prescribing and prescription queries
• Medicines reconciliation
• High-risk medicines work
• Prescribing audits and medicines safety
• QOF-related clinical activity
• Care home medicines support

Delivery can be remote, in-practice or hybrid.

The main difference is who manages the workforce and outcomes. With a managed outsourced service, areas such as recruitment, professional oversight, performance management and service reporting may sit with the provider rather than individual practices.

When should a PCN or practice consider outsourcing?

There is no single point at which outsourcing becomes necessary. It makes most sense when there is a clear gap between the clinical pharmacy work that needs to be delivered and the organisation’s ability to provide it consistently.

Recruitment is taking too long

Clinical pharmacist vacancies can leave existing pharmacists and GPs carrying additional medicines workload.

Outsourcing can provide an alternative to repeatedly recruiting directly, particularly where the organisation needs ongoing clinical pharmacy capacity rather than another short-term locum arrangement.

Existing teams has minimal bandwidth

A practice may already have pharmacists but still have:

• Medication review backlogs
• Outstanding long-term condition work
• High repeat prescribing demand
• Medicines reconciliation pressure
• QOF-related clinical gaps
• Patients overdue for monitoring or review

In this situation, pharmacy outsourcing in primary care can supplement the existing team rather than replace it.

Managing the pharmacy workforce is taking significant internal time

Direct employment creates responsibilities around recruitment, onboarding, supervision, performance, training and absence management.

A managed provider can take responsibility for some of this infrastructure while the practice retains oversight of the clinical service.

Several practices need a consistent service

PCNs can use an outsourced team across multiple practices where they want a common approach to clinical pharmacy delivery, governance and reporting.

This can be particularly useful where existing practices have different levels of pharmacist capacity or different medicines workflows.

The required capacity may change

Service demand is not always static.

A PCN may need more clinical pharmacy input during a mobilisation period, when addressing a backlog or when expanding a specific clinical pathway. A scalable service model can make it easier to adjust capacity without repeatedly recruiting new employees.

How does clinical pharmacist outsourcing work?

A structured clinical pharmacy outsourcing model should begin with the work that needs to be delivered rather than simply assigning a pharmacist.

1. Scope the service

The practice, PCN and provider agree:

• Required clinical capacity
• Priority patient groups
• Workflows to be covered
• Delivery model
• System access
• Governance arrangements
• Measures of performance
• Reporting

2. Onboard the pharmacist

The pharmacist needs appropriate access to clinical systems and should understand local pathways, formularies, protocols and escalation processes.

The provider should also confirm professional registration, competence and any role-specific training requirements.

3. Integrate with the practice team

Outsourced pharmacists should not work as a separate task-processing service.

They need clear routes for communicating with:

• GPs
• Pharmacy technicians
• Practice managers
• Nurses
• Administrative teams
• Other members of the PCN multidisciplinary team

4. Deliver and monitor the service

Once delivery begins, activity should be reviewed against the agreed objectives.

This may include:

• Clinical activity
• Work completed
• Outstanding workload
• Escalations
• Medicines safety interventions
• Patient cohorts reviewed
• Agreed service KPIs

The provider and client can then adjust capacity or workflows where necessary.

Can outsourced clinical pharmacists be funded through ARRS?

PCNs can engage clinical pharmacists through a third-party organisation and potentially claim eligible costs through ARRS, but the service must meet the Network Contract DES requirements.

For ARRS pharmacist support, NHS England expects the outsourced pharmacist to deliver the clinical pharmacist role in full rather than provide isolated task-based cover.

For an eligible service arrangement:

• The pharmacist must meet the relevant qualification and training requirements
• The role must include appropriate patient-facing clinical work
• The pharmacist should work with the PCN multidisciplinary team
• Continuity of service is expected
• The arrangement must be intended to run for at least six months
• A different pharmacist being supplied for every shift would not meet the expected continuity model
• Pay-as-you-go arrangements are not eligible for ARRS reimbursement

Where a pharmacist is still enrolled on the approved 18-month training pathway or equivalent, the current guidance applies a minimum 0.5 WTE requirement.

These restrictions apply where ARRS reimbursement is being claimed. A GP practice can still commission other forms of short-term or project-based clinical pharmacy support outside ARRS where appropriate.

What are the main benefits of outsourcing?

The benefits of outsourcing clinical pharmacists depend on the provider and service model.

A well-managed arrangement can offer:

• Additional clinical capacity without another direct recruitment process
• External management and professional support
• Greater resilience when workforce capacity changes
• Consistent governance across several practices
• Remote, in-practice or hybrid delivery
• Structured activity and performance reporting

Outsourcing does not automatically improve a service. The provider still needs the right clinicians, management team, governance, continuity and understanding of NHS primary care.

How to choose a clinical pharmacist service provider

A clinical pharmacist service provider should be assessed on more than availability or hourly cost.

Ask:

• How are clinical pharmacists sourced, how thorough and robust is the recruitment process how and when are they clinically assessed on an ongoing basis?
• Who provides professional and clinical supervision?
• How will clinical pharmacists integrate into our practice systems and MDT?
• How is continuity maintained?
• What governance and escalation arrangements are in place?
• What activity and outcome reporting will we receive?
• How is long term absence or replacement handled?
• Can capacity change if our requirements change?
• Does the model meet ARRS requirements where reimbursement is intended? Across how many ICBs has this been demonstrated?

The service agreement should also define what the provider manages and what remains the responsibility of the practice or PCN.

Core Prescribing Solutions Insight: What we see in primary care

Outsourcing works best when it solves a defined service problem. Simply adding clinical pharmacist hours without agreeing patient cohorts, workflows, ownership and expected outcomes can move workload rather than reduce it. The strongest models establish what the pharmacy team will deliver before mobilisation and then use regular reporting to check whether that capacity is being used where it adds the most value.

Expert comment from our CEO and qualified clinical pharmacist:

Outsourcing clinical pharmacy should not mean sending a list of tasks to someone outside the practice. Clinical Pharmacists need to understand the local team, systems and patient pathways. When the service is properly integrated and governed, outsourcing can provide additional capacity while maintaining continuity and accountability.

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer – Core Prescribing Solutions
Qualified Clinical PharmacistHow we deliver outsourced clinical pharmacist support

At Core Prescribing Solutions, our managed clinical pharmacist services are crafted around the requirements of each GP practice, PCN or federation rather than a fixed list of tasks.

We agree the clinical scope, we listen to your specific needs, capacity and delivery model before mobilisation, then provide the workforce and service infrastructure needed to deliver it.

Our model can include:

• Experienced clinical pharmacist capacity
• Remote, in-practice or hybrid delivery
• Structured supervision and clinical governance
• Integration with practice and PCN workflows
• Monthly activity reporting and service reviews
• A named account manager and training and development lead
• Pharmacy technician support where the workflow benefits from a wider skill mix

This gives organisations a managed clinical pharmacy workforce solution with clear oversight of who is delivering the service, what work is being completed and how the model is performing.

FAQs

How quickly can an outsourced clinical pharmacist start?

Timescales depend on the required capacity, system access, onboarding and service scope. Providers should agree a realistic mobilisation date before the contract starts rather than guaranteeing an immediate deployment.

Do outsourced pharmacists work as part of the practice team?

They should. Effective clinical pharmacist outsourcing requires integration with existing GPs, pharmacy teams and wider multidisciplinary services, even where the pharmacist works remotely.

Can outsourced pharmacists deliver SMRs and long-term condition reviews?

Yes, where this forms part of the agreed service and the pharmacist has the appropriate competence, training and clinical access.

Is outsourcing the same as using a locum pharmacist?

Not necessarily. A managed outsourced service can include ongoing governance, supervision, reporting, continuity and service management. Locum arrangements are generally focused on supplying temporary short term individual workforce capacity.