Merton's Health and Wellbeing Board is set to delegate the final approval of its Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) to Councillor Peter McCabe, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, and Russell Styles, Director of Public Health.
The decision was made during the board's meeting on 24 June 2025, where members discussed the collaborative approach taken to refresh the PNA. The PNA is a crucial document that identifies current and future pharmaceutical service needs at a local level. It ensures that pharmacy services are appropriately located and that commissioned services meet community needs.
According to the meeting agenda, the Health and Wellbeing Board members had the opportunity to comment on the draft PNA during a workshop on 17 June 2025. The statutory 60-day consultation period will run from 7 July to 7 September 2025, gathering feedback from key stakeholders, including HealthWatch, the Local Medical Committee, NHS South West London ICB, and residents.
The PNA is used by Integrated Care Boards when making decisions on applications to open new pharmacies and dispensing appliance contractor premises. The regulations set out that the following should be included in the PNA: current provision, gaps in provision, other relevant NHS services, recommendations for improvements and better access, methodology as to how the assessment was carried out and maps of provision.
The final published PNA will then be presented, for information only, to the Health and Wellbeing Board at their meeting on Tuesday 11th November 2025.
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