How the NHS 10-Year Plan Shapes Clinical Pharmacy

• 6th July 2025

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The NHS 10-Year Plan, set to shape health services into the next decade, aims to rebalance care towards communities, enhance digital health, and focus on preventative healthcare. For Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and clinical pharmacy teams, understanding the impact of NHS 10-Year Plan on pharmacy is crucial. This article explores the plan’s key strategies, how they influence the pharmacy role in primary care networks, and how PCNs can prepare effectively.

• Core “Three Shifts” and Pharmacy’s Strategic Role
• Pharmacy Workforce Implications
• Digital Roadmap & Interoperability for Pharmacy
• Planning Gaps: What We Still Need to Know

Key Takeaways:

• The NHS 10-Year Plan will significantly expand the clinical responsibilities of pharmacy professionals within primary care.
• Digital transformation and integrated neighbourhood services are central to the pharmacy role in primary care networks.
• PCNs should anticipate greater workforce pressures, but also new opportunities, as the full impact of NHS 10-Year Plan on pharmacy unfolds.

Core “Three Shifts” and Pharmacy’s Strategic Role

The NHS 10-Year Plan is built around three strategic shifts, each significantly impacting pharmacy services in primary care.

1. Hospital to Community:
Care is moving from hospitals into integrated neighbourhood health service models, involving multidisciplinary teams including clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to provide localised, patient-centred care. This shift is creating more integrated pharmacy servicesacross communities, with Clinical Pharmacists taking expanded roles in managing long-term conditions, prescribing, and diagnostics.

2. Analogue to Digital Shift:
The NHS will accelerate digital adoption, enhancing data sharing, patient records access, and remote consultations. This analogue to digital shift means pharmacists must adapt to new digital platforms, becoming central to technology-enabled patient care.

3. Sickness to Prevention:
A greater focus on prevention, health screening, and proactive health management will highlight the role of pharmacies as community health hubs. Ensuring community pharmacy sustainability will be crucial for delivering preventative services and public health initiatives.

Primary Care and PCNs: Immediate Priorities

The NHS 10-Year Plan prioritises significant investments in primary care, particularly to enhance patient access and care coordination. Central to this is the establishment of Neighbourhood Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs), involving pharmacists as integral team members under the ARRS pharmacist integration framework.

Key immediate priorities include:

• Integrated care pharmacy models, embedding clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians into Neighbourhood MDTs alongside GPs, nurses, and social care, to streamline patient management.
• Strengthening primary care access through pharmacy-led services such as Pharmacy First, supporting timely care delivery.
• Significant investments in digital tools, enhancing pharmacist involvement in remote consultations, prescribing, and care monitoring.
• A clear pharmacy workforce strategy, focusing on recruitment, retention, training, and upskilling pharmacists to deliver expanded clinical roles.

Together, these priorities ensure pharmacy teams are well-positioned to deliver integrated, responsive, and digitally-enabled patient care within primary care networks.

Pharmacy Workforce Implications

The NHS 10-Year Plan significantly expands pharmacy responsibilities in primary care, placing new demands on the pharmacy workforce. To deliver the expanded clinical pharmacy role, substantial focus will be needed on recruitment, training, and retention.

Key workforce implications include:

• Increased need for prescriber training to equip pharmacists with autonomous clinical skills, aligning with ARRS pharmacist integration objectives.
• Clear career pathways and structured training to support pharmacists’ involvement in Neighbourhood MDTs and complex condition management.
• A comprehensive pharmacy workforce strategy to tackle recruitment challenges, enhance job satisfaction, and promote sustainable long-term growth.
• Strategic investment in supervision, mentorship, and professional development, particularly for newly qualified or transitioning pharmacists.

Addressing these workforce needs is essential to realise the NHS’s vision for pharmacy teams as pivotal clinical providers within primary care.

“The future of primary care pharmacy under the NHS 10-Year Plan depends on strong investment in workforce training and development. By upskilling pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, PCNs can unlock new clinical potential and deliver the integrated, patient-centred care the NHS now demands.”

Adeem Azhar: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Core Prescribing Solutions

Risks/Challenges	Opportunities/Benefits
Funding shortfalls and uncertain long-term investment threaten business viability.	Expanded services (e.g. Pharmacy First, health checks) offer new revenue streams and enhanced clinical roles.
Workforce shortages and retention pressures risk reducing opening hours or service quality.	Greater integration in PCNs boosts professional status and collaborative care.
Service expansion may stretch already-limited resources, shifting pressure from GPs to pharmacy.	Increased focus on prevention and public health places pharmacy at the heart of neighbourhood care.
Digital adoption costs and IT system fragmentation slow progress.	Digital integration offers new ways to reach patients and deliver care efficiently.
Unclear commissioning/funding for new roles and services creates uncertainty.	Support for independent prescribing and upskilling opens new clinical career pathways.

Digital Roadmap and Interoperability for Pharmacy

The analogue to digital shift is a central pillar of the NHS 10-Year Plan, with direct implications for how pharmacies operate and deliver care. Pharmacies are expected to play a greater role in digital health, benefitting from expanded tools and improved access to patient information.

Key priorities include:

• Upgrading digital infrastructure to enable real-time sharing of records between general practice, pharmacy, and other providers.
• Expanding NHS App functionality, allowing patients to view prescriptions, book consultations, and manage medications online.
• Promoting the adoption of AI-driven tools for medicines optimisation, risk identification, and workflow efficiency as part of ongoing NHS digital transformation.
• Ensuring that community and primary care pharmacies are fully included in data-sharing initiatives for integrated care pharmacy, improving continuity of care and safety.
• Training staff to use new digital systems, supporting change management, and addressing the digital divide.

Planning Gaps: What We Still Need to Know

Despite a clear direction, the NHS 10-Year Plan leaves several critical details unresolved for pharmacy and PCNs. Uncertainty remains around how these ambitions will be funded and sustained in practice.

Key gaps include:

• Long-term funding commitments for primary care and community pharmacy, and how resources will be rebalanced away from acute settings.
• Specifics of the pharmacy workforce strategy: targets for recruitment, retention, training, and support across sectors.
• Clear governance and accountability arrangements for neighbourhood services, including the evolving relationship between PCNs and community pharmacy.
• The impact of NHS 10-Year Plan on pharmacy is also shaped by how new roles, digital priorities, and workforce pressures are coordinated at local and national levels.

Action Steps for PCNs and Core Prescribing Solutions Value

To succeed under the NHS 10-Year Plan, PCNs and pharmacy leaders should act now to strengthen teams, embrace change, and build resilience. Proactive steps include:

• Reviewing your pharmacy workforce strategy to identify gaps in skills, supervision, and service capacity.
• Maximising ARRS pharmacist integration by recruiting, upskilling, and supporting pharmacists in extended clinical roles.
• Recognising the growing importance of pharmacy technicians and expanding their roles within primary care teams to support medicines management, workflow, and patient care.
• Preparing for a greater pharmacy role in primary care networks by investing in digital skills, data sharing, and collaborative working.
• Engaging in regular workforce planning and scenario analysis to adapt to evolving national guidance and local needs.

Core Prescribing Solutions supports PCNs, Practices and Federations with flexible, expert-led pharmacy workforce solutions covering onboarding, training, supervision, and ongoing team development helping you respond confidently to the 10-Year Plan’s demands.