AQW 28053/22-27

Mr Danny Donnelly
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 03/06/2025
Answered On Date: 18/06/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to outline (i) what funding is required to deliver the Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030; (ii) what business cases including transformational bids, he has submitted to secure this funding; and (iii) the timescale for delivery of this Plan.

Answer:

The Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan brings together four existing inter-related programmes of work led by the Department, to support the delivery of six strategic priorities up to 2030. Those four work programmes relate to: Service Development; Legislative Reform; Workforce; and ePharmacy.

Some aspects of these work programmes are already in train and funded, however full delivery of the strategic vision is subject to additional funding and implementation will be phased over the lifetime of the strategy. Additional requirements of up to £15m have been identified which, if secured, will support the development of community pharmacy services in line with the commissioning priorities outlined in the 2025-28 commissioning plan for community pharmacy services, which the Department and Community Pharmacy NI are currently working on.

In addition, the Department’s ePharmacy Digital Reform Programme for Primary Care comprises of four related projects:

Go Pharmacy NI;

Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions;

Electronic Prescribing Eligibility System (EPES) replacement; and

NI Drug Tariff Masterfile.

The indicative timescale for delivery of the ePharmacy programme is by September 2032, subject to funding, and work is currently being undertaken to develop the relevant business cases. An outline business case for the Go Pharmacy project is expected to be completed in July 2025.