Pharmacies can do “much more” for healthcare if they are “fully embedded in winter planning”, Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI) has said.
The comments were made at the All-Party Group’s meeting on “Community Pharmacy and Winter Pressures” at Stormont on October 6.
CPNI acknowledged the “significant role” community pharmacies already play in helping patients access treatment and reducing the need to visit GPs, emergency departments and out-of-hours services.
Read more: Community pharmacies in NI hit lowest number in a decade
It noted that a total of 22 million items were dispensed between September 2025 and February 2026, of which 100,000 were provided by the Emergency Supply Service.
The body also said that community pharmacies had delivered “more than 68,500 flu and Covid vaccinations” and had provided over 100,000 Pharmacy First consultations between last September and this January.
“Much more that could be done”
But CPNI chair Marie Smith said that “much more that could be done if the sector was properly integrated into winter planning and given the resources to expand services such as Pharmacy First”.
“Enabling pharmacists to safely manage more conditions in the community would help patients get treatment sooner while reducing avoidable pressure elsewhere in the health service,” she added.
CPNI also highlighted the slower growth of Pharmacy First in Northern Ireland, warning that the scope of services available to patients “has not expanded at the same pace” as other parts of the UK.
Read more: Govt invests £42m in electronic prescriptions for Northern Ireland
The meeting also discussed the Neighborhood Model being developed by the Department of Health, which names community pharmacy as “one of the four pillars of primary care” and highlights “its role in delivering accessible treatment and prevention services”.
CPNI responded that “pharmacies cannot be expected to take on an increasing role in health service transformation without addressing the financial and operational pressures facing the network”.
And it highlighted the impact of “growing” pressures on the supply chain, with “more than 200 common generic medicine lines currently affected each month”.
“Cannot be tackled by hospitals alone”
All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy chair Danny Donnelly stressed that “winter pressure cannot be tackled by hospitals alone”.
“We need to look at the health service as a whole and make sure patients are able to get the right care, in the right place, as early as possible,” he added
“As we move into another difficult winter, it is important that community pharmacy is properly included in planning and that we make full use of the skills and expertise already available within the network.”
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CPNI also expressed concerns over the 2026/27 community pharmacy funding deal, saying it “had been informed of the settlement without an opportunity to negotiate either the allocation or the associated conditions”.
And the meeting saw the launch of CPNI’s Community Pharmacy Manifesto 2027, which set out the body’s priorities for action.
These include investing in accessible care close to home, enhancing rapid access to treatment, supporting self-care and health management and improving earlier intervention and long-term condition management at home.
Read more: ‘Suspend the clawback’: 90% of NI pharmacies can’t pay wholesalers
CPNI chief executive Gerard Green said the manifesto “sets out a clear opportunity for the next Assembly: stabilise the community pharmacy network, recognise pharmacy as a core part of neighbourhood healthcare and give pharmacists the ability to do more for local patients”.
“This is not about creating a new service from scratch,” he added. The infrastructure and public trust already exist in communities across Northern Ireland.”
“What is needed now is the ambition and investment to make better use of it.”
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It comes after official figures released in June revealed that community pharmacies in Northern Ireland had reached their lowest number in a decade.
And it follows the UK government investing £42m in electronic prescriptions in Northern Ireland with the launch of the ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme.
