Community pharmacies in England have dispensed more prescription items this year, and there has been a sharp increase in items dispensed after Pharmacy First consultations, according to NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA).
As per its latest General Pharmaceutical Services report, community pharmacies dispensed 1.19 billion prescription items in 2025/26, a 2.5% increase from 2024/25 (1.16 billion).
The total items dispensed by community pharmacies has steadily risen over the last five years, with 1.04 billion prescription items dispensed in 2021/22.
Pharmacy numbers
There were 11,011 community pharmacies that submitted prescriptions for processing during 2025/26, however, by 31 March 2026, there were only 10,388 pharmacies open in England.
In all the regions, the pharmacies that closed down outnumbered pharmacy openings.
In London region, 114 pharmacies closed down and 87 opened; while the southwest region had the narrowest difference with 78 pharmacies closing and 73 opening.
The highest number of pharmacy closures was in North East and Yorkshire region (122), where 104 pharmacies opened during the same period.
The second highest number of closures was in Midlands (121), where 97 pharmacies opened during the same period.
Medicine costs
The cost of drugs and appliances reimbursed to community pharmacies and appliance contractors totalled £10.8 billion, a 3.5% increase from 2024/25.
There were 108,000 items dispensed per contractor by community pharmacies on average (excluding items dispensed following a Pharmacy First consultation).
Community pharmacies dispensed 2.49 million items following a Pharmacy First Service consultation, an increase of 32% from 2024/25
Appliance contractors
There were 113 active appliance contractors that submitted prescriptions to NHSBSA for processing.
There were 118,000 items dispensed per appliance contractor on average.
There were 13.3 million items dispensed by appliance contractors, an increase of 6.3% from 2024/25 (12.5 million).
The total cost of prescription items dispensed this year was £880 million, up from £815 million in 2024/25.
