Webinar spotlight

The recently published NHS 10 Year Health Plan sets out a roadmap for change built around three key shifts – from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. For community pharmacy, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge: to become a core part of neighbourhood health systems, fully leveraging technology and clinical expertise to deliver more care closer to home.  

At a recent Pharmacy Show webinar, Shilpa Shah, CEO of Community Pharmacy North East London, and Dervis Gurol, Owner of Healthy Pharmacy and Director of the Independent Pharmacy Contractors Network, joined chair Danny Bartlett, Clinical Lead for Primary Care Workforce at NHS England, to unpack what the plan means in practice. Together, they explored how its ambitions align with existing pharmacy capabilities, the risks of inaction, and the strategic moves contractors can make now to prepare for a more integrated, prevention-led future. 

Shah welcomed the visibility the sector has been given in the new plan, noting, “Community pharmacy really shone during Covid, and finally it feels like we’ve been listened to.”  

 

She emphasised that much of what is outlined is already happening on the ground –   such as public health interventions, prevention services, and vaccination delivery – but that the challenge now is to expand these services, make them nationally consistent, and ensure funding and legislative changes support them.  

For her, investment in automation and IT infrastructure, alongside a clear workforce strategy, are critical enablers: “The ones that seem to be able to adapt quicker to new services are those that have embraced technology.” 

Meanwhile, Gurol described the plan as “a fork or junction in the road… a real opportunity, but also a very real risk [if the sector remains passive]”. He warned that without proactive engagement, community pharmacy’s hard-won place in primary care could be diminished, with other providers stepping into roles the profession has spent decades building.  

 

His advice to contractors was clear: understand the strategic direction, adapt your business model, and actively position yourself in local systems, including Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs). Drawing on his own experience in Brighton, he described how participation in INTs had allowed him to champion community pharmacy’s role, develop social prescribing initiatives, and educate local stakeholders on services already being delivered. 

 

A major theme throughout the webinar was the role of technology, automation, and AI in enabling pharmacies to meet the plan’s ambitions. Both speakers stressed that this goes beyond robotics: intuitive PMR systems, AI-assisted clinical note-taking, and digital triage could all release capacity for pharmacists to deliver more clinical care. Gurol described how his pharmacy operates entirely digitally, and how AI tools have improved efficiency, accuracy, and his ability to participate in system-level meetings.  

Shah urged contractors to actively research and trial technology, noting the benefits of 'try before you buy' visits to other pharmacies, and to ensure any investment is paired with training and workflow redesign. 

 

Workforce development and retention were also central to the discussion, with both speakers calling for protected learning time, mentorship, and a national transition framework to support the independent prescribing agenda. Gurol highlighted the isolation that many Responsible Pharmacists face – likening it to 'serving an eight-hour jail sentence every day' – and the importance of creating opportunities for professional growth and peer support.  

Shah agreed, sharing how her LPC had secured ICB funding for clinical leadership training, and encouraged contractors to mentor students and early-career pharmacists, even informally: “It doesn’t have to be labelled as mentorship – it’s about having great conversations.” 

Both saw collaboration as a non-negotiable. Shah advised pharmacies to connect with their LPC, rebuild post-Covid relationships with GP surgeries, and be active on professional networks like LinkedIn and local WhatsApp groups to stay informed and engaged.  

Gurol echoed this, urging contractors to communicate regularly with representatives and peers: “Collaboration, communication and continuity… if you’ve got these three C’s going together, you can keep building on what you’ve got.” 

 

Looking to the future, both speakers imagined a community pharmacy sector that fully embodies the NHS plan’s vision for neighbourhood health. Shah envisioned a true 'pharmacy first' model, where pharmacies act as the front door to the NHS – triaging, managing, or referring patients appropriately, with widespread independent prescribing and advanced technology in place.  

Gurol imagined pharmacies spending 'most of their day in clinical consultation,' specialising in areas such as HRT, mental health, hypertension, or diabetes, supported by AI-driven tools, outcome-based commissioning, and sustainable funding. 

Their shared message was one of urgency and opportunity: the NHS 10 Year Plan provides a clear policy mandate, but delivering on it will require the sector to be proactive, innovative, and united. As Gurol concluded, “Frustration must become action… we need to be at the table, not looking back and thinking we should have been at the table.” 

You can watch the full recording of The 10-Year Health Plan: what does it mean for community pharmacy? here.