United Kingdom plans to expand and strengthen the role of Community Pharmacies

The United Kingdom has developed a ten-year action plan for healthcare, placing a strong emphasis on local care, with community pharmacies set to play an increasingly prominent role.

Recognising the health benefits brought by integrating pharmacies into national healthcare systems in various countries, British authorities aim to reform their own system, which is described as being in a “critical state” in the government’s published document. The plan proposes replacing services currently delivered predominantly in hospitals with continuous, accessible, and integrated care provided closer to home.

In this context, the plan envisions community pharmacies moving beyond their traditional role in dispensing medicines to become fully integrated components of the healthcare system, offering a broader range of clinical services. These include services already available in Portuguese pharmacies, aimed at enhancing disease prevention, such as pharmacy-led vaccination programmes – notably for the HPV vaccine – as well as screening for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The document also outlines an enhanced role for community pharmacies in managing chronic conditions and treating obesity, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels. The proposed expansion of the scope of community pharmacy services in the UK is accompanied by the development of two-way communication systems, whereby pharmacists would be included in electronic health records, allowing access to patients’ health journeys. Likewise, GPs would be able to view pharmacy-based patient monitoring records.