Scotland’s community pharmacies are calling on the next Scottish government to place them at the centre of a national NHS service to give the one in three Scots living with obesity the opportunity to safely access new weight loss medicines.

In a manifesto launched this week, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) says politicians must do more to unlock the full potential of the nation’s more than 1,200 high street pharmacies to deliver healthier communities.

CPS says politicians must recognise the role pharmacies can play, and are already playing, in preventing, detecting and treating ill health – and the opportunity for pharmacists and pharmacy staff to use community pharmacy’s unique position to support more people closer to their homes.

The organisation sets out seven ‘priority policy ambitions’ – including the setting-up of a nationally funded NHS weight loss service delivered by Scotland’s network of community pharmacies.

It also says government should fund a national substance use service – building on a programme that has seen every community pharmacy stock the overdose reversal drug naloxone with staff trained to administer it.

CPS says, with 90% of adults visiting a pharmacy at least once last year, they are ideally placed to have a role in detecting conditions earlier through community pharmacy-led diabetes and cardiovascular screening programmes to identify at-risk individuals sooner.

The pharmacy owners also believe the success of NHS Pharmacy First Scotland, with 1.9 million people last year consulting a pharmacist – and potentially being prescribed a treatment there and then – demonstrates how more patients can be treated without having to go to a GP or hospital.

The manifesto calls for more investment in NHS Pharmacy First, extending what pharmacists are allowed to prescribe, coupled with commissioning a suite of women’s health services ‘with the aim of improving choice and access to NHS medications and advice’.

Launching the manifesto, CPS Chief Executive Matt Barclay said:

“Pharmacies are at the heart of their communities, trusted by patients and proven to deliver accessible healthcare without the need for an appointment. With the right investment, pharmacy teams can take on roles in tackling obesity, reducing drug deaths, preventing long-term conditions, and supporting women’s health.

“This manifesto is our call to action for all political parties to recognise the power of community pharmacy and work with us to delivering a healthier Scotland.”

Women’s health service

In August 2021, the Scottish government published its Women’s Health Plan with a long‑term action to provide and promote a Women’s Health Community Pharmacy Service to improve access to contraception, postnatal contraception, routine sexual healthcare, and reduce the burden on specialist sexual health services.

While community pharmacies can offer advice on common health issues experienced by women including UTIs and period symptoms, provide emergency contraception and, more recently, operate a ‘bridging contraception’ service, CPS says in it manifesto that pharmacies can do more.

It says women’s health services delivered by community pharmacies should be extended to cover areas from period delay, contraception and preconception right through to menopause and beyond.

Access to health records

Missing from today’s CPS manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood elections is a repeat of the call for community pharmacists to have access to read and update patient’s medical records – a block that the Scottish government says it is reviewing.

In July, the professional organisation for pharmacy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland, launched its manifesto placing access to records as their number one ask.

RPS cited a survey of community pharmacists that found 88% have only limited access to patient records despite 95% of them believing this is important.

Having already said it supports the RPS campaign on access to records, CPS now says it is time for much wider investment in infrastructure, including replacing outdated IT and ensuring the existing programme to phase out paper prescriptions can be matched with paperless dispensing.

The organisation says it wants pharmacy systems to integrate with the rest of the NHS so high street pharmacies can provide a gateway for patients ‘to be seen by the right professional, in the right setting, at the right time – particularly during the out of hours period’.

 

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