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Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

Pharmacy services
Pharmacy services

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) provides a comprehensive account of the commissioning environment for pharmaceutical services for the Suffolk area.

What are Pharmaceutical Services?

Pharmaceutical services include services provided from local pharmacies, dispensaries at doctors' surgeries, or specialist appliance contractors. Local pharmacies also provide healthcare help and advice and are often the first point of contact when people are concerned about their health.

Why do we need a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment?

Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Board have a statutory duty to publish a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment every three years, under the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. The last assessment was published in March 2015, and thus a revised assessment must be published by the end of March 2018.

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment is a report of the present needs for pharmaceutical services. It is used to identify any gaps in current services or improvements that could be made in future pharmaceutical service provision.

Who will use the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment?

It will be used by NHS England, Suffolk County Council, and the Clinical Commissioning Groups in Suffolk to make decisions when applications for new pharmacies are received, and for the commissioning of other services that could be delivered by community pharmacies and other providers.

Where can I find the 2018 report?

The full Health and Wellbeing Board Approved (15 March 2018) document. 

Supplementary statements also get published for the PNA. They provide a factual update of the PNA - about what services are provided, and where. These will need to be read in conjunction with the PNA.  

Supplementary Statements: