NHS England will announce its pilot practice pharmacist sites next month, C+D has learned.

GP practices had until September to apply to take part in the scheme, which will see them receive a share of more than £15 million in government funding to employ at least 375 pharmacists around the country.

NHS England expects the successful practices to start employing pharmacists through “rolling recruitment over many months”, with most pharmacists in place by “early spring 2016”, it said in response to a freedom of information request by C+D.

The commissioning body’s chief executive Simon Stevens announced earlier this month that it will fund “at least” 50% more pharmacists than the 250 originally announced, and NHS England also told C+D that this had never been part of its initial plans.

NHS England’s project team had “looked at a range of options to consider the best approach” to the scheme, but it had never considered providing more than £15m of funding, it told C+D last week (October 23).

After Mr Steven's announcement, NHS England said it was still deciding how much extra funding it would provide to support the additional pharmacists. 

The commissioner told C+D last week that it does “not envisage a second phase” of the pilot programme.

NHS England declined to provide C+D with details about the specific meetings it held to decide funding for the scheme, claiming it is “not possible to quantify” how many meetings took place.

When he announced the scheme's expansion earlier this month, Mr Stevens said the commissioning body had been “absolutely staggered” by the responses it had received to the initiative.
 

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