Number of Pharmacists working in general practice increase in England

The number of pharmacists working in general practice has increased by 41% in the year between September 2018 and September 2019, figures from NHS Digital have shown. The data also show that 343 pharmacists have been hired since March 2019, when NHS England set the baseline for which funding for additional pharmacists in primary care networks (PCNs) would be determined. In the GP contract, published in January 2019, NHS England announced that each of England's 1,259 PCNs are expected to have one pharmacist at the end of 2019/2020. According to the report, this growth is “the second highest of EU-15 countries” behind Portugal, which saw an increase of more than 100%.