NHS Community Pharmacy Prescribing: Legal commencement.
Publication of legal directions, Drug Tariff Part VIC, updated service specifications, and Clinical Prescribing Guidance
This operational note confirms that NHS community pharmacy prescribing will commence from 29 October 2026.
The Legal Service Directions that provide the legal framework for prescribing delivery have now been enacted. Updates to Drug Tariff Part VIC and VIF
have also been published.
The service specifications and guidance have been published on the NHS England website:
- Final publication of the updated Pharmacy First specification.
- Final publication of the updated Pharmacy Contraception Service specification.
- Final NHS Community Pharmacy Prescribing Specification.
- Prescription Management Guidance.
- Professional Assurance Framework for delivering NHS community pharmacy clinical services.
Additional information is available on the NHSBSA website:
- Onboarding Guidance and Declaration Form for NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacy Sites and NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacists.
- Final DRAFT publication of the NHS Community Pharmacy Clinical Prescribing Guidance which includes visual decision-making support tools and detailed clinical requirements to support safe and effective prescribing across the five new prescribing conditions, existing seven Pharmacy First and contraception service pathways.
Other resources to support onboarding, preparation and implementation include:
- Slides and recording from the national contractor webinar is available via FutureNHS (login required).
- NHS England’s published FAQs document, available via FutureNHS.
The NHSBSA process is open to allow onboarding and declaration. Community pharmacy contractors should review the available documentation and assess their readiness before submitting a declaration via the NHSBSA Prescribing Consultation Claims Declaration Form.
Community pharmacy contractors must not commence prescribing activity until all onboarding and readiness requirements have been completed, including:
- Contractor declarations approved by the ICB.
- Cost centres established and allocated for the designated NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacy Site and linked to the relevant NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacist(s).
- EPS and Smartcard access operational for the NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacist(s).
- Appropriate training, SOPs and local clinical governance arrangements in place.
NHS England will be hosting a webinar for community pharmacy colleagues on 9 November 2026, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. The webinar will provide information and support to help NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacists prepare for and implement community pharmacy prescribing. Please register using the following link: NHS Community Pharmacy Prescribing: Clinical support to deliver NHS services. Further resources, guidance and local implementation support will be available through your Integrated Care Board.
The Pharmacy First service specification contains important updates for the urgent medicines supply pathway that apply to all pharmacists delivering the service in line with regulations for emergency supply. This pathway is NOT included within the prescribing pathways for NHS Prescribing Community Pharmacists.
