Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments 2025 – Contractor survey is now LIVE

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) is a crucial part of the market entry system, and supports commissioning decisions based on patient needs, and it is important that Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) prepare PNAs to national comparable standards. Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Councils have been working with LPC and ICB colleagues along with Healthwatch to start the process of publishing the next PNAs by October 2025; part of this work is the Contractor Survey, which identifies many services provided by contractors, facilities etc along with what sort of services contractors might be willing to provide in the future, should they be commissioned. However, to keep the survey as short as possible the Office for the West Midlands pharmacy team will be providing much of the information on opening hours and engagement with nationally commissioned services, for example.

The surveys are being jointly hosted online at: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/nlvbi4 – contractors will receive an email to shared mailboxes very soon; we would encourage all contractors take some time to complete the survey, as the fullest picture of what is currently being provided at pharmacies will help generate a complete, accurate and effective PNA. Those contractors working for multiples should engage with line management colleagues prior to completing the survey.

There is a quite a short window to complete the survey, which is expected to close on Friday 28th February 2025; we will remind contractors by email as we get updates on progress.

You can find further information about PNAs on the CPE website at: https://cpe.org.uk/quality-and-regulations/market-entry/pharmaceutical-needs-assessment/