Details of the pharmacies eligible for payment under the Pharmacy Access Scheme are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-pharmacy-reforms

Reviews of eligibility for pharmacies that may have narrowly missed out on the Pharmacy Access Scheme through the distance criteria are currently ongoing. Final numbers are therefore not yet available.

We have made no such assessment.

The Government welcomes the progress that has already been made by Greater Manchester partners as they implement their ground-breaking devolution deal. The Department and other national partners continue to work with and support Greater Manchester as it realises its ambitious plans for transforming its health and social care system.

Discussions with Greater Manchester are ongoing. However there are currently no plans to devolve responsibility and funding for community pharmacies, under the Cities and Local Devolution Act 2016, to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Community pharmacy will continue to play an integral role in National Health Service planning for this winter.

Building on last year’s successful introduction of the national Influenza Adult Vaccination Service delivered through community pharmacies, pharmacists are again providing ‘flu vaccinations to eligible patients in this ‘flu season. Over 747,500 vaccinations have been carried out so far this year – more than for the whole of the 2015-16 season.

As part of our package of reform, we are helping community pharmacy to play a greater role. For example, we want community pharmacy to be seen as the first port of call for minor ailments, helping to reduce pressure on the rest of the system. This season’s Stay Well This Winter campaign points people to visit their pharmacist at the earliest signs of feeling unwell, and before their condition gets more serious, to prevent them ending up at their general practice or emergency care department.

In addition, a new community pharmacy pilot service, the NHS urgent medicines supply advanced service, is being rolled out by NHS England this winter starting from December 2016 and running until the end of March 2018. The pilot service will see NHS111 referring requests for urgent medicines to a community pharmacy, where appropriate, relieving pressure on urgent and emergency care services by shifting this demand from general practitioner out of hours providers. This is being funded by the new Pharmacy Integration Fund and will be evaluated to inform future commissioning decisions.

The reforms to community pharmacy are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. Although it is possible that the closure of some pharmacies may result from the savings we need to make, that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the National Health Service or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We have created a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) to safeguard patient access in areas with fewer pharmacies and higher health needs. Details of the PhAS were published on 20 October 2016. All small and medium pharmacies that are located more than a mile from another pharmacy will qualify for the scheme.

Currently, 1,340 pharmacies qualify for the PhAS. One pharmacy within Kingston upon Hull North qualifies. It is within the lowest decile of deprivation.

PhAS pharmacies will receive fixed monthly payments, in addition to other fees and allowances, including the quality payment. These will be roughly equivalent to the funding reduction for each pharmacy, with a small efficiency saving. On average, this will equate to about £11,600 per annum in 2016/17 and about £17,600 per annum in 2017/18 for each eligible pharmacy.

Reviews of eligibility will be granted for pharmacies that may have narrowly missed out on the PhAS through the distance criteria, but are in areas of high deprivation and critical for patient access. This will cover pharmacies that are located in the top 20% most deprived areas in England, and which are located 0.8 miles or more from another pharmacy. For this purpose, we will look at the top 20% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), when ranked by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. LSOAs are a standardised unit of geography in the United Kingdom. An LSOA varies in geographical size according to population density, but has an average population of about 1,600 in 2011.

Additional funding for successful reviews under this “near miss” criterion will be made available as required. This will influence the overall distribution of community pharmacy funding, including in deprived areas.

The reforms to community pharmacy are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. Although it is possible that the closure of some pharmacies may result from the savings we need to make, that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the National Health Service or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We have created a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) to safeguard patient access in areas with fewer pharmacies and higher health needs. Details of the PhAS were published on 20 October 2016. All small and medium pharmacies that are located more than a mile from another pharmacy will qualify for the scheme.

Currently, 1,340 pharmacies qualify for the PhAS. One pharmacy within Kingston upon Hull North qualifies. It is within the lowest decile of deprivation.

PhAS pharmacies will receive fixed monthly payments, in addition to other fees and allowances, including the quality payment. These will be roughly equivalent to the funding reduction for each pharmacy, with a small efficiency saving. On average, this will equate to about £11,600 per annum in 2016/17 and about £17,600 per annum in 2017/18 for each eligible pharmacy.

Reviews of eligibility will be granted for pharmacies that may have narrowly missed out on the PhAS through the distance criteria, but are in areas of high deprivation and critical for patient access. This will cover pharmacies that are located in the top 20% most deprived areas in England, and which are located 0.8 miles or more from another pharmacy. For this purpose, we will look at the top 20% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), when ranked by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. LSOAs are a standardised unit of geography in the United Kingdom. An LSOA varies in geographical size according to population density, but has an average population of about 1,600 in 2011.

Additional funding for successful reviews under this “near miss” criterion will be made available as required. This will influence the overall distribution of community pharmacy funding, including in deprived areas.

The reforms to community pharmacy are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. Although it is possible that the closure of some pharmacies may result from the savings we need to make, that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the National Health Service or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We have created a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) to safeguard patient access in areas with fewer pharmacies and higher health needs. Details of the PhAS were published on 20 October 2016. All small and medium pharmacies that are located more than a mile from another pharmacy will qualify for the scheme.

Currently, 1,340 pharmacies qualify for the PhAS. One pharmacy within Kingston upon Hull North qualifies. It is within the lowest decile of deprivation.

PhAS pharmacies will receive fixed monthly payments, in addition to other fees and allowances, including the quality payment. These will be roughly equivalent to the funding reduction for each pharmacy, with a small efficiency saving. On average, this will equate to about £11,600 per annum in 2016/17 and about £17,600 per annum in 2017/18 for each eligible pharmacy.

Reviews of eligibility will be granted for pharmacies that may have narrowly missed out on the PhAS through the distance criteria, but are in areas of high deprivation and critical for patient access. This will cover pharmacies that are located in the top 20% most deprived areas in England, and which are located 0.8 miles or more from another pharmacy. For this purpose, we will look at the top 20% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), when ranked by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. LSOAs are a standardised unit of geography in the United Kingdom. An LSOA varies in geographical size according to population density, but has an average population of about 1,600 in 2011.

Additional funding for successful reviews under this “near miss” criterion will be made available as required. This will influence the overall distribution of community pharmacy funding, including in deprived areas.

The changes related to Community Pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond were announced on 20 October, which gives six weeks’ notice before the changes are implemented on 1 December. The sector has been aware since 17 December 2015 of the planned funding reduction for the 2016/17 financial year and the proposed timescales for implementing it. Indeed the resolution to be implemented in 2016/17 is £57 million lower than that initially proposed. We have provided information on the changes so that pharmacy contractors can make adequate preparations.