The all party pharmacy group (APPG) has called for an overhaul of pharmacy commissioning to end the "real barrier" in delivering services to patients.

In a letter to pharmacy minister Earl Howe, APPG chair Kevin Barron called on the government to ensure commissioning reflects pharmacy’s role in improving public health and remove the “variability” of commissioning and funding across the UK.

The calls comes ahead of a public health white paper, which is expected to be published next month (December).

Pharmacy has “come a long way” in demonstrating its capability, Mr Barron said, adding that there is cross-party consensus on “the important role pharmacy can and should play in delivering public health”. However, commissioning still presented "a real barrier".

“In future we need to see GP consortia, local authorities and the national commissioning board working in partnership with pharmacy to capitalise fully on its capability public health,” Mr Barron added.