Key Summary
- Community pharmacies in England dispensed 1.16 billion prescription items in 2024/25, an increase of 4 percent from 2023/24
- The number of prescription items dispensed by the Electronic Prescription Service in 2024/25 rose by over 61 percentage points
- On average, there were 104,000 items dispensed per contractor by community pharmacies in 2024/25
Community pharmacies in England dispensed 1.16 billion prescription items in 2024/25, an increase of 4 percent from 2023/24, but the number of active pharmacies has fallen to the lowest level since 2015.
According to the NHSBSA, in 2024/25, there were 11,098 active community pharmacies, 911 less than in 2023/24.
In 2023/24, an increased number of pharmacy contracts changed providers compared to previous years.
This inflated the number of active pharmacies in 2023/24 compared to the number of pharmacy premises.
On average, there were 104,000 items dispensed per contractor by community pharmacies in 2024/25.
There was a sharp increase in the number of prescription items dispensed by Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) with in 2024/25.
In 2024/25, 99.2 percent of all contractors dispensed at least one prescription item submitted via EPS, an increase from 97.5 percent in 2015/16.
During the period, 1.13 billion or 96.7 percent of prescription items were dispensed through EPS.
This was an increase of 61.3 percentage points from 2015/16, when 355 million items were dispensed via EPS (35.4 percent).
Appliance contractors
The appliance contractors dispensed 13 million prescription items, a 7 percent increase from 2023/24, but the number of active appliance contractors in 2024/25 was 111, a decrease of one compared with 2023/24.
On average, they dispensed 113,000 items per appliance contractor in 2024/25.
Costs reimbursed
The Costs reimbursed to contractors increased in 2024/25, for the sixth consecutive year.
They increased by 2.14 percent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 from £10.2 billion to £10.4 billion, the highest costs in 10 years.
In 2024/25, the value of single activity fees (SAF) received by contractors increased by 3.90 percent to £1.50 billion, up from £1.44 billion in 2023/24.
Flu vaccines
In 2024/25, there were 4.07 million flu vaccines administered by 9,300 community pharmacies.
This was an increase of 7.8 percent on the 3.77 million flu vaccines administered in 2023/24.
The costs reimbursed and fees paid to community pharmacies as part of the advanced service have increased over time.
While the costs have fluctuated since 2021/22, the current cost of vaccines administered in 2024/25 was nearly 15 times that of 2015/16, increasing from £3.75 million to £55.2 million.
