Essex Health and Wellbeing Board Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) Formal Consultation 2025

Overview

Under the NHS Pharmaceutical Services Regulations 2013 regulations, all Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWB's) are required to publish a PNA by October 2025.

The purpose of the PNA is to assess and set out how the provision of pharmaceutical services can meet the current and future health needs of the HWB's population for a period of up to three years.

The document is then used by Integrated Care Boards as the basis for determining market entry to a pharmaceutical list including the opening of additional pharmacies, relocations and consolidations of premises and amendments to opening hours or pharmaceutical services. It is also used by local commissioning organisations to commission pharmaceutical services.

As part of the NHS Pharmaceutical Services Regulations 2013, the HWB is required to consult a specified range of relevant organisations on a draft of the PNA at least once during the process of developing the document.

The following organisations must be consulted:

• the local pharmaceutical committee (LPC)
• the local medical committee (LMC)
• pharmacy and dispensing appliance contractors included in the pharmaceutical list for    the area of the Essex HWB,
• dispensing doctors included in the dispensing doctor list for the area of the HWB
• any pharmacy contractor that holds a local pharmaceutical services contract with premises that are in the HWB's area
• Healthwatch, and any other patient, consumer, or community group in the area which the HWB believes has an interest in the provision of pharmaceutical services
• any NHS trust or NHS foundation trust in the HWB’s area
• NHS England
• any neighbouring HWB
• Integrated Care Boards and Integrated Care Systems for the HWB area.

Data protection

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