More than 80% of primary care appeals in 2025/26 related to pharmacies, NHS Resolution’s annual report and accounts have revealed.
The report, published July 9, said that of the 383 new appeal and dispute applications received by the Primary Care Appeals Service between March 31, 2025, and April 1, 2026, some 311 (81.2%) were linked to pharmacy.
Appeals relating to pharmacy market entry or change of listing made up 67.8% of the applications received, while pharmacy performance sanction appeals made up 10% and pharmacy overpayment appeals made up 2.3%.
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NHS Resolution said it received 116 appeals regarding distance selling pharmacy (DSP) applications in 2025/26, four times the 29 received the year before.
It also resolved 66 DSP appeals this year, compared with 25 in 2024/25, it added.
The body said these “significant increases” are due to legislation enacted last June, which banned new DSP applications and “resulted in a surge of applications at local level”.
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The Primary Care Appeals Service closed a total of 354 cases in 2025/26, a more than 27% improvement on the previous year.
Pharmacy market entry and change of listings appeals made up 65% of resolved cases, while pharmacy performance sanction resolutions made up 11.3% and pharmacy overpayment appeals made up 13.3%.
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It comes after amendments to the NHS Modernisation Bill were proposed to give ICBs more power to act over “inadequate” pharmacy services.
The government also proposed a new clause that would establish NHS Resolution as the single authority for pharmacy-related appeals.