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New Funding Deal for Community Pharmacy Explained | The Guide for Primary Care Leaders
- Tara Humphrey
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
At THC Primary Care, we provide resources for primary care leaders, and today's blog focuses on the March 31, 2025, announcement regarding the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) for 2024-2026.
This marks a significant development for a crucial but sometimes overlooked component of primary care.
This comes just after substantial changes to the GP Contract were announced in February 2025, forming a coordinated approach to strengthening primary care services across England.
In this blog, we will be covering:
Here are the highlights.
Keep reading for more details.
Key Financial Changes Affecting Community Pharmacy
The funding guaranteed to community pharmacy through the CPCF will rise to £2.698 billion (a 4.1% increase) for 2024-2025 and then jump to £3.073 billion in 2025-2026.
This represents a substantial 19.7% increase on 2023-2024 funding levels and 15% on 2024-2025. For context, this outpaces the overall NHS funding increase of 5.8% for 2025-2026.
On top of this core funding, pharmacies can access an additional £215 million through Pharmacy First and other Primary Care Access Recovery Plan services.
The government has also agreed to write off £193 million of historic medicines margin over-delivery, primarily accrued during the pandemic.
Fee Structure Changes
From April 2025, several key fees will increase:
Single Activity Fee: Up from £1.27 to £1.46
Pharmacy Contraception Service: Up from £18 to £25 per consultation
Pharmacy First consultations: Up from £15 to £17
New Medicine Service: Simplified to two £14 payments
Hypertension Case Finding Service: Restructured with clinic checks reduced to £10 but ABPM consultations increasing to £50.85
Service Expansions
From October 2025, two key services will expand:
The New Medicine Service will add depression as a supported therapeutic area
The Pharmacy Contraception Service will include emergency contraception with a fee of £20 per consultation
Workforce Flexibility Improvements
One of the most practical changes in the new framework is the expansion of workforce flexibility within pharmacies. From 2025-2026, pharmacy teams will be able to make better use of skill mix with registered and non-registered pharmacy staff enabled to deliver parts of key services.
Notably, pharmacy technicians will now be able to deliver services under Patient Group Directions (PGDs). This is a significant development that allows qualified pharmacy technicians to supply and administer certain medicines to patients without a prescription, following an approved protocol.
This change will apply to both the smoking cessation service and the Pharmacy Contraception Service, with PGDs being introduced for varenicline and cytisinicline (cytisine) in the smoking cessation service, and drospirenone being added to the contraception service.
For pharmacy leaders and contractors, this means:
More efficient use of the whole pharmacy team
Potential to increase service capacity
New professional development opportunities for pharmacy technicians
Greater flexibility in how services are delivered
This aligns with broader NHS workforce strategies that aim to optimise skill mix across healthcare settings and make better use of the full range of workforce capabilities.
Quality Scheme Returns
The Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) is the quality improvement and incentive scheme for community pharmacies in England and will be reinstated with a value of £30 million from April 2025, focusing on:
Palliative and end of life care: Developing/updating action plans and confirming stocking of essential medicines
Respiratory care: Referral requirements for patients aged 5-15 without spacers and those using multiple bronchodilators without corticosteroid inhalers
Pharmacy First: Completion of clinical audits and sepsis training
Emergency contraception: Required training completion
NMS depression: Training requirements for consulting with people with mental health problems
Enhanced DBS checks: Required for all registered pharmacy professionals within the last 3 years
Pharmacy First Development
The Pharmacy First service (which has delivered over 1.9 million consultations to date) will evolve with a revised fixed payment structure from June 2025:
£500 fixed payment for 20-29 clinical pathway consultations per month
£1,000 maximum payment for 30+ consultations
Additional service delivery requirements will be phased in through March 2026
Regulatory Changes
Several regulatory changes will be made in 2025 to reduce bureaucracy, including:
Clarifying rules for distance selling pharmacies
Removing requirements for practice leaflets and staff references
Eliminating the need for prescription charge signatures
Removing clinical audit requirements for 2025-2026
Digital Developments
Up to £8 million of funding will support digital developments, particularly to streamline the claims process through "Manage your service" and to support new clinical services.
How This Compares to GP Contract Changes
This pharmacy funding boost parallels significant changes to the GP Contract announced in February, which included:
An £889 million increase in investment (7.2% growth)
A new £80 million enhanced service for advice and guidance
Reduction in QOF bureaucracy with 32 indicators permanently retired
Increased flexibility in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme
Digital access improvements
What This Means for Integrated Primary Care
These parallel announcements suggest a coordinated approach to strengthening primary care in England, with both community pharmacy and general practice receiving significant investment increases and structural changes.
The government appears committed to shifting care into community settings and improving digital access.
The Pharmacy First scheme continues to expand, presenting both opportunities and challenges for integration with general practice.
The increased focus on CVD prevention in general practice also aligns with the hypertension case finding service in community pharmacy.
About Us
THC Primary Care is an award-winning healthcare consultancy specialising in Primary Care Network Management and the creator of the Business of Healthcare Podcast. We've supported more than 200 PCNs through interim management, training, and consultancy.
Our expertise spans project management and business development across both private and public sectors. Our work has been published in the London Journal of Primary Care, and we've authored over 250 blogs sharing insights about primary care networks.
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