Every Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) has a statutory duty to carry out a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) every three years. The aim of the PNA is to enable local pharmacy service providers and commissioners to
NHS pharmaceutical services are provided by contractors in the pharmaceutical list held by NHS England (NHSE). The types of providers are:
NHS pharmaceutical services refers to services commissioned through NHS England. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) took on the delegated responsibility for the commissioning of pharmacy services from NHS England from 1 April 2023.
The three main categories, as identified in the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) are as follows:
However in the absence of a particular service being commissioned by NHS England, it is in some cases addressed by Locally Commissioned Services, funded by the local authority (Council) of the ICB. These are services community pharmacy contractors could choose to provide and are therefore included in the PNA.
Nottingham City’s health – overview
The overall health of Nottingham’s population is generally poorer than the national average in England, as seen in lower life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Nottingham City faces health challenges, particularly in long-term conditions, sexual health, smoking, obesity, alcohol and drug use, respiratory diseases and immunisation uptake.
These health challenges present opportunities for the ICB and the local authority to maximise the benefits of national CPCF services and Locally Commissioned Services to improve patient outcomes.
Community Pharmacy Access
Since the last PNA, the number of community pharmacies has reduced from 64 in September 2022 to 59 in January 2025. In Nottingham City, there are 18.0 community pharmacies per 100,000 population which is slightly fewer than the England average of 18.1 community pharmacies per 100,000.
At the time of writing of the PNA, it was noted that community pharmacies on the border with Nottinghamshire County also provide access to further community pharmacy services for the residents across Nottingham.
Community pharmacies are well distributed across the eight localities, with most of Nottingham City’s residents being able to travel to a pharmacy within a reasonable time.
Conclusions
For the purposes of this PNA, Nottingham City HWB has agreed that Necessary Services are all Essential Services and the Pharmacy First Advanced Service. All other remaining Advanced and Enhanced Services apart from the Smoking Cessation Service are considered relevant as they contribute towards improvement in provision and access to pharmaceutical services.
Locally Commissioned Services are those that secure improvements or better access to, or that have contributed towards meeting the need for, pharmaceutical services in Nottingham City HWB area, and are commissioned by the ICB or the local authority, rather than NHSE.
There are 59 community pharmacies, all of which provide the Essential Services as per the current CPCF, and 95% provide Pharmacy First services, demonstrating very good access of the Necessary Services across Nottingham City.
This Nottingham City Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2025 concludes that there are no identified gaps in provision of NHS Necessary Services to meet current and future (next three years) needs of the population. This includes provision during working and non-working hours.
There are no gaps in the provision of Advanced and Enhanced Services at present or in the future (next three years) that would secure improvements or better access to services in Nottingham City.
Based on current information, no gaps have been identified in respect of securing improvements or better access to Locally Commissioned Services, either now or in the future (next three years) across Nottingham City to meet the needs of the population.
Although no gaps have been identified, there are opportunities to improve awareness and understanding of community pharmacy services within the population, and for targeted engagement and health promotion to help reduce health inequalities and optimise the use of the existing pharmacy network. Opportunities also exist to strengthen pharmacy services in Nottingham City in alignment with the proposed NHS 10 Year Health Plan and Change NHS initiative, focussing on prevention, long-term conditions, primary care access, medicines engagement, health inequalities and integrated care.