Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Community pharmacies play a vital role in the delivery of primary care services in local communities throughout Wales and are highly valued by the public.
Following discussions with Community Pharmacy Wales, I am making an additional £6m available to the sector as a one-off stabilisation payment at the end of the 2024-25 financial year. This substantial investment will support community pharmacy to maintain and accelerate progress against our longer-term ambition for reform, as set out in Presgripsiwn Newydd - A New Prescription.
Importantly, it will guarantee Wales’ award-winning Sore Throat Test and Treat service and the new Urinary Tract Infection service, which was introduced last summer, will be available as nationally-commissioned services from 4 June and 1 October, respectively.
This means people will be able to seek free advice and treatment for these two conditions at 99% of pharmacies across Wales, in time for the busy winter period, supporting our wider ambition to make access to primary care services easier and helping to relieve pressure on general practice.
The roll-out of these two services across Wales’ network of community pharmacies is in addition to the existing Common Ailments Scheme, which now provides free advice and treatment for 28 common illnesses.
The £6m additional investment in community pharmacy in 2024-25 underpins our ambitious reform of primary care, supporting the long-term sustainability of pharmacies, and helping to ensure the NHS maximises the use of the skills and expertise of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and the wider pharmacy team in every community in Wales.