Community pharmacies face stiffer competition for services under the new NHS, as private healthcare companies look to capitalise on the growing market, NHS Partners Network chief executive David Worskett has said.

Mr Worskett forecast that the private sector would become increasingly interested in providing community-based health services in the reformed NHS. But, although the "continued growth" in community healthcare would create more competition, he stressed that it could also benefit pharmacy.

If pharmacy positioned itself strongly as a service provider, it could stand to gain "significant business opportunities" from the new NHS landscape, Mr Worskett – whose organisation's members include Nuffield Health and Virgin Care – explained.

"There's one area that is opening up and that's community health services, so I think there will be new business through competitive tendering" David Worskett NHS Partners Network	More on the NHS reforms Top GP commissioner: grasp the opportunity of       NHS reforms Reforms provide chance for pharmacy to shape       its workforce Video: 'The landscape has changed'
	"There's one area that is opening up and that's community health services, so I think there will be new business through competitive tendering," he told C+D. "With the drive to move care out of hospitals, you can see community-based pharmacy [gaining] significant business opportunities." But Mr Worskett added that the growth of private healthcare providers could be slower than anticipated.

"There will be some growth in independent sector involvement but I think it will be incremental and relatively slow, rather than anything particularly dramatic," he forecast. "If the share is about 5.7 per cent now, I would think it would move to 7.5 per cent or 8 per cent over the next five years."

Mr Worskett is one of the many high-profile speakers with whom you can debate the implications of the NHS reforms at the C+D Summit on April 11. Book your place today