Key Summary
- NHS England told the PAC that it is looking at other healthcare professionals sharing the service, such as community pharmacists undertaking medication reviews.
- "However, we have had written evidence from pharmacists who are keen to do this work but told us that it is not adequately funded," the report said.
- PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said England has an ageing population and this report must act as a warning.
The National Pharmacy Association has welcomed the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which found that pharmacies can provide better support for elderly and frail patients.
NPA chief executive Henry Gregg said, "This is a significant report. We're pleased the committee recognises that using pharmacists to help frail and elderly patients manage what can often be a complicated and bewildering medicines regime is part of the solution to this issue.
"This could include regular medicines reviews, removing unnecessary medicines, as well as widening the support pharmacies can offer when a patient is discharged from the hospital. This can prevent unnecessary visits to the hospital or to other parts of the health system.
"Pharmacies are conveniently located on people's doorsteps and know their patients well. With the right levels of funding support and buy in from the rest of the NHS, they can help those who need it the most in our communities and take pressure away from the wider health system."
In evidence to the PAC’s inquiry, NHS England recognised that it had pushed GP practices very hard over the past couple of years to improve access, and as a result, support for people with frailty got neglected.
It told the PAC that it is looking at other healthcare professionals sharing the service, such as community pharmacists undertaking medication reviews.
"However, we have had written evidence from pharmacists who are keen to do this work but told us that it is not adequately funded," the report said.
While NHSE accepted that the position with regard to frailty is “not acceptable,” the PAC’s report warns that it is not clear exactly who is responsible for improving performance between local health boards that commission services, and those, including GPs, who deliver these services. The PAC warns that this divided system could lead to no one taking responsibility.
The report comes in the context of NHSE’s planned 50 percent cuts to local health boards, announced in April 2025. Boards will be planning large-scale redundancies to achieve these, with some current functions to be transferred away from them.
PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said, "NHS England has been hyper-focused on ensuring people’s access, and digital access, to general practice. Given the well-established challenges in these areas, this is of course understandable.
"However, we have an ageing population in this country, with millions of people at risk of frailty. Our report must act as a warning that any success in ensuring such access must not be built by a system turning its face away from older people as it prioritises other things.”
