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What Is Precision Medicine and How Does It Work in the NHS?
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Updated: August 2026
- What is Precision Medicine?
- How does precision medicine work?
- Precision medicine vs personalised medicine
- The role of genomics in precision medicine
- Precision medicine and medicines optimisation
- What precision medicine means for primary care
- Challenges in implementing precision medicine
- How we support precision medicine in primary care
Precision medicine is an approach to healthcare that uses information about a person’s genes, condition, environment and lifestyle to support more targeted diagnosis, treatment and prevention. In the NHS, it is closely linked to genomic medicine, pharmacogenomics and more personalised treatment decisions.
Key takeaways
- Safe implementation depends on data governance, workforce training, clinical interpretation and equitable access.
- Precision medicine helps clinicians choose treatments or tests based on individual patient characteristics, not only broad disease categories.
- Genomic testing is already being used in parts of NHS care, especially in cancer, rare disease and some medicines optimisation pathways.
What is Precision Medicine?
Precision medicine means tailoring healthcare decisions to the individual patient. It uses information such as genetic variation, disease type, biomarkers, medical history, lifestyle and environment to guide diagnosis, treatment or prevention.
For anyone asking what is precision medicine, the simplest answer is this: it aims to give the right treatment to the right patient at the right time, using more detailed information about that patient and their condition.
It does not mean every patient receives a completely unique treatment. It means clinicians can group patients more accurately and choose care based on what is most likely to work for that person.
How does precision medicine work?
Precision medicine starts by gathering more specific information about the patient or their condition. This may include genomic testing, biomarker testing, family history, clinical data, current medicines and lifestyle factors.
In practice, the process may involve:
- Identifying a clinical question, such as diagnosis, treatment choice or medicine safety
- Testing for relevant genes, variants or biomarkers where appropriate
- Interpreting results alongside the patient’s wider clinical picture
- Choosing a treatment, dose, monitoring plan or referral pathway
- Reviewing outcomes and adjusting care if needed
For anyone asking how does precision medicine work, the key point is that test results do not make decisions on their own. They support clinicians in making safer and more targeted choices.
Precision medicine vs personalised medicine
Precision medicine vs personalised medicine is a common comparison because the terms are often used in similar ways.
Personalised medicine is a broader phrase. It can include tailoring care around a patient’s preferences, lifestyle, circumstances, goals and clinical needs.
Precision medicine is usually more specific. It often refers to using genetic, genomic, biomarker or data-led information to guide diagnosis, treatment and prevention more accurately.
In simple terms:
- Personalised medicine focuses on care tailored to the person
- Precision medicine focuses on care guided by detailed biological or clinical information
- In real NHS practice, the two ideas often overlap
Both approaches aim to move away from a one-size-fits-all model of care.
Related read: What is the role of a clinical pharmacist
Precision medicine vs personalised medicine
Precision medicine vs personalised medicine is a common comparison because the terms are often used in similar ways.
Personalised medicine is a broader phrase. It can include tailoring care around a patient’s preferences, lifestyle, circumstances, goals and clinical needs.
Precision medicine is usually more specific. It often refers to using genetic, genomic, biomarker or data-led information to guide diagnosis, treatment and prevention more accurately.
In simple terms:
- Personalised medicine focuses on care tailored to the person
- Precision medicine focuses on care guided by detailed biological or clinical information
- In real NHS practice, the two ideas often overlap
Both approaches aim to move away from a one-size-fits-all model of care.
Examples of precision medicine
One of the clearest examples of precision medicine is pharmacogenomic testing before certain chemotherapy medicines.
For example, some patients need testing for variation in the DPYD gene before fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy, such as 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine. This can help identify patients who may be at higher risk of severe toxicity, allowing clinicians to adjust treatment or consider alternatives.
This is precision medicine in practice. The treatment plan is not based only on the cancer diagnosis. It also considers how the patient may respond to a specific medicine.
The role of genomics in precision medicine
Genomics is a major part of precision medicine because genetic information can help explain disease risk, diagnosis or medicine response.
The NHS Genomic Medicine Service supports access to genomic testing in England, including testing for cancer, rare disease and some pharmacogenomic uses. These services are designed to help clinicians use genomic information where it provides clear clinical value.
Genomics can support:
- Cancer diagnosis and treatment selection
- Rare disease diagnosis
- Inherited disease risk assessment
- Pharmacogenomics and medicines safety
- Family risk identification
- More targeted monitoring or referral
However, genomic data must be interpreted carefully. A test result needs to be considered alongside the patient’s symptoms, history, clinical context and treatment options.
Precision medicine and medicines optimisation
Precision medicine is highly relevant to medicines optimisation because it can help clinicians understand why a medicine may be more suitable, less effective or higher risk for a particular patient.
In future, pharmacogenomics may play a larger role in everyday prescribing. This could support better decisions around medicine choice, dose, side effect risk and monitoring.
For primary care, this matters because many prescribing decisions happen outside specialist settings. As genomic and pharmacogenomic information becomes more available, GP practices, PCNs, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will need clear processes for using that information safely.
What precision medicine means for primary care
Primary care will not replace specialist genomic services, but it will increasingly need to understand how precision medicine affects prescribing, referral, monitoring and patient conversations.
For GP practices and PCNs, this may include:
- Recognising when genomic information affects care
- Supporting medicines optimisation where pharmacogenomic results are available
- Helping patients understand treatment changes
- Coordinating follow-up with specialist services
- Maintaining accurate records
- Identifying patients who may need referral or review
- Building workforce awareness of genomic medicine
Clinical pharmacists are particularly important because precision medicine often links directly to medicine choice, safety and monitoring.
Challenges in implementing precision medicine
Precision medicine has major potential, but implementation is not simple. It depends on infrastructure, workforce capability, data governance and clear clinical pathways.
Key challenges include:
- Managing sensitive genomic and clinical data securely
- Making sure testing is used where it is clinically appropriate
- Avoiding unequal access to genomic services
- Training healthcare professionals to understand results
- Integrating results into clinical systems and workflows
- Supporting patients to understand what results mean
- Avoiding overuse of tests where they do not change care
- Maintaining clear governance around consent and data use
Precision medicine should not be treated as technology alone. It requires clinical interpretation, patient communication and safe service design.
Core Prescribing Solutions Insight: What we see in primary care
In primary care, precision medicine will only add value if genomic and clinical information can be translated into safe prescribing decisions, clear records and practical follow-up. The challenge is not just access to testing. It is making sure results are understood, documented and used appropriately within medicines optimisation and routine care workflows.
Expert insight from Adeem Azhar, qualified Clinical Pharmacist and CEO
“Precision medicine has huge potential, but it must be implemented carefully. In primary care, the key is turning complex genomic or clinical information into practical decisions that improve safety, prescribing and patient care. Pharmacists can play an important role in medicines optimisation as this area becomes more embedded in routine practice.”
Adeem Azhar, MPharm, IPres
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer – Core Prescribing Solutions
Qualified Clinical Pharmacist
How we support precision medicine in primary care
As precision medicine becomes more relevant to prescribing, primary care teams need clear processes for using patient-specific information safely. At Core Prescribing Solutions, we support GP practices and PCNs with medicines optimisation, clinical review and prescribing governance where individual risk, treatment response or specialist information may affect care.
Our clinical pharmacy team can help with:
- Medication reviews that consider patient-specific risk, treatment suitability and monitoring needs
- Medicines optimisation where specialist genomic or pharmacogenomic information is available
- Safe prescribing processes for patients with complex conditions or polypharmacy
- Pharmacy technician support for records, recalls and follow-up workflows
- Clear escalation where specialist input or further clinical review is needed
This helps practices use precision medicine principles safely within everyday prescribing and medicines management.
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