The hub-and-spoke model has “proved very successful” for Rowlands, but independents or small pharmacy chains may find an alternative solution “easier”, Numark managing director Jeremy Meader has said.

NHS Digital is “working through some technical constraints” to give patients the option of nominating an online pharmacy via the NHS App, its head of operations for the NHS App David Hodnett has said.

The NHS Community Pharmacy Contraception Management Service pilot will extend to two-years and involve more pharmacies across England, an NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) director has announced. 

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) has allocated money from the Pharmacy Integration Fund (PhIF) to pay for the development of ICS-based community pharmacy integration leads.

"Appropriately trained" pharmacy team members should be able to provide limited, pre-agreed services if the responsible pharmacist needs to leave the pharmacy for a maximum of two hours, Margaret MacRury, superintendent and director at Rowlands Pharmacy, has said.

There are serious risks if patients’ records are not shared with all healthcare professionals involved in their care and it is vital that pharmacists have appropriate read-write access to them, General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) chair Nigel Clarke has said.

More than 12 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered at pharmacy-led sites since the beginning of 2021, an NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) director has said.

The UK “must” maintain the supply of medicines in Northern Ireland or “we’re going to see some pretty horrific consequences”, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Mark Lyonette has warned.

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) is considering a further expansion to the NMS, which could see the addition of depression as another therapeutic area.