Community pharmacies are to receive record levels of investment by the Department of Health and Social Care, which is to designate an extra £617 million over two years following a six-week consultation with Community Pharmacy England.

Additionally, the government will write of £193 million of debt for community pharmacy owners to give them a confident start to the new financial year.

The extra investment comes alongside several reforms to deliver numerous patient benefits, as part of the government’s intuitive to shift the focus of care from hospitals other than communities. Pharmacies providing a greater range of accessible services will not only improve access for patients, but also free up GP times and cut waiting lists in hospitals or other secondary care venues.

The government have additionally announced that the ‘morning-after pill’ will be available free of charge at pharmacies on the NHS for the first time ever, as well as offering support for patients with depression when they are prescribed anti-depressants.

Other initiatives include boosting financial incentives for pharmacists to identify patients with undiagnosed high blood pressure to relieve pressure off GPs, giving patients easier access to consultations and a wider range of services like carrying out blood pressure checks, as well as better funding for medicine supplies.

An extra £30 million has been saved by devolving funding for blood pressure and contraception services to pharmacies.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Community pharmacists are at the heart of local healthcare, and we want them to play a bigger role as we shift care out of hospitals and into the community through our Plan for Change.

“We’re working to turn around a decade of underfunding and neglect that has left the sector on the brink of collapse.

“This package of record investment and reform is a vital first step to getting community pharmacies back on their feet and fit for the future.

“The agreement shows how this government is working in partnership with community pharmacy to deliver more care for patients closer to their home, freeing up GP appointments, and catching ill-health earlier and preventing it in the first place.”

In 2025/26, uplift represents a 15 per cent increase in government sending on the previous year, higher than the record 5.8 per cent growth in the total NHS budget.