Lewisham's Health and Wellbeing Board has approved the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for 2026-2029, concluding that current pharmaceutical services are sufficient to meet the needs of the borough's residents.
The assessment, which is a statutory requirement reviewed every three years, found that despite a decrease in the number of pharmacies in Lewisham from 52 to 48 since the previous assessment, overall provision of essential, advanced, and enhanced pharmaceutical services remains adequate. The PNA used the standard industry benchmark of a 20-minute walk as an acceptable limit for accessibility, determining that the vast majority of Lewisham residents are within this distance of a pharmacy. For those who are not, pharmacies in neighbouring boroughs are accessible within the same timeframe. Furthermore, the report acknowledged that pharmacists offer delivery services and other additional support for housebound individuals or those with specific needs.
Key findings from public and contractor consultations highlighted concerns regarding pharmacy closures in specific areas, including Bellingham, Forest Hill, and Lee Green. Accessibility needs for pharmacy users and a lack of out-of-hours access were also raised as points for consideration. The PNA noted a lack of out-of-hours access, defined as after 5 p.m. on a weekday or on a weekend, a concern particularly raised by a respondent regarding the former Lloyd's pharmacy in Sydenham/Bellingham. The assessment also highlighted that no pharmacy in Locality 4 is open on a Sunday. While the PNA acknowledges these concerns, it concludes that pharmacy opening hours themselves are not a pharmaceutical service
and does not detail specific plans for improvement beyond noting the gap.
While the PNA identified a potential gap in smoking cessation services for hospital inpatients in Locality 1, it otherwise found sufficient provision across all advanced and enhanced services, including the Pharmacy First service, hypertension case-finding, and vaccination programmes. The PNA identified this gap as Locality 1 being the only area without a pharmacy offering the Smoking Cessation Service for individuals who started a stop smoking program as a hospital inpatient and were referred to a pharmacy for continuation. The PNA document does not detail a proposed solution or strategy to address this specific gap.
The assessment acknowledged the importance of pharmacies as accessible community resources, particularly for vulnerable populations. The PNA steering group included representatives from Public Health, the Medicines Optimisation Team, Lewisham Local Medical Committee, Community Pharmacy South East London, and the Lewisham Primary Care Team. The full Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment can be found in the Lewisham Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment PNA 2026-2029
document.