THREE NATIONS ROUND-UP
NORTHERN IRELAND Roll Out of ePrescribing
An investment of over £42 million has been announced to establish an ePharmacy programme after funding was successfully secured through the Public Service Transformation Bid.
The ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme will deliver an electronic prescription transfer programme, meaning paper prescriptions will be a thing of the past. Prescriptions will be digitally transferred from the prescriber, GPs or Out of Hours to community pharmacies, streamlining the process for patients.
In addition, a new digital platform will manage the delivery of clinical services to the public through community pharmacies, improving patient safety, expanding access to care for patients and bringing treatment closer to people’s homes.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “With over 45 million items prescribed and dispensed annually across Primary Care in Northern Ireland, transitioning from paper prescriptions to a digital system will genuinely transform patient experience. This project and the new digital platform will help to make Health and Social Care as safe as possible, accelerate primary care reform and help support our move towards a Neighbourhood Model of care for primary, community and social care.”
Fall in Number of Pharmacies
The number of pharmacies in Northern Ireland has fallen to the lowest number in a decade.
The decision comes after a £200 million increase to the margin allowance for pharmacy contractors in England was announced in the new pharmacy contract. Following discussions, Wales has agreed to mirror the current Westminster arrangements, meaning Welsh contractors will benefit from additional consequential funding.
Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) said the uplift will provide around £13 million in extra margin funding for 2026/27, along with the write-off of any over-delivery in margin accumulated up to the end of March 2026.
Life Sciences Investment
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced a new programme of events in Wales to boost clinical research and the development of new therapies and technologies.
CPW also confirmed that negotiations on the 2026/27 pharmacy contract requirements are expected to begin in July.
The organisation said it is seeking a timely agreement to provide contractors with clarity and secure further funding, as the sector continues to face significant financial pressure. A recent National Pharmacy Association survey found that many Welsh pharmacies have relied on personal savings or remortgaging homes to stay open, with a significant proportion reporting they were not profitable in 2025.
WALES
Increase in Wales medicines margin Wales’ medicines margin will receive a £13 million uplift in 2026/27 after the Welsh Government confirmed it will continue to follow national drug tariff arrangements set in England.
According to an annual statistics report, the number of pharmacies is now just 506, that’s 27 less than there was 10 years ago. The report said only one local government district saw an increase in pharmacy numbers, the rest saw a decline. The exception was Fermanagh and Omagh, where the number of pharmacies increased by one, to 46 pharmacies.
Despite the drop in pharmacy numbers, the report says 46.4 million items were dispensed in Northern Ireland in 2025/26, the highest figure on record.
The MHRA said Wales is a leader in medtech, AI-powered diagnostics, wound healing, regenerative medicines, cell therapy and precision medicines, employing more than 13,000 specialists across 300 companies.
Most of the industry’s output is for export, generating a turnover of £2.6 billion and contributing ‘significantly’ to the economy, the regulator added.
The new programme of events will include MHRA representatives visiting Wales on regular liaison days to host meetings and workshops. These liaison days will focus on topics such as innovation pathways, clinical investigations for medtech, regulatory support and ways to engage with the MHRA throughout the product development pipeline. Local stakeholders will also be able to book in-person sessions with the regulator’s technical experts.
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