EXCLUSIVE

Almost half of the pharmacists due to be recruited into GP practices as part of an NHS England pilot are now in their posts, C+D has learned.

The commissioning body pledged £31 million last year to fund 403 clinical pharmacists to work in GP practices across 73 pilot areas. But it revealed to C+D last week that it has expanded the scheme to fund "over 450" pharmacists across 90 pilot sites.

NHS England had originally predicted that recruitment would be completed by spring 2016, and it said last week that “almost half” of the 450 pharmacists are now working in their new practices.

“We are pleased with the progress of the practice scheme and are confident it is going ahead as planned,” it said.

Unsuccessful applications

Some pilot sites had been unsuccessful in their applications to join the scheme, NHS England added. These decisions had been “determined locally” based on the "limited resources available", it said.

Last week, C+D discovered that one pilot site had struggled with GP practices dropping out of the scheme. 

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