Key practice developments in 2025

Aim

To provide a concise summary of important changes that have taken place in community pharmacy practice during 2025. 

Objectives

After completing this module and its online counterpart, pharmacy technicians will:    

• Be able to identify further ways to adapt services 
• Feel confident writing a reflective account of what you have learned
• Be able to discuss major developments that happened during 2025 and reflect on how these impact patient care.

Community pharmacy in the UK has always been a sector in motion, but 2025 feels like a watershed year. From the long-awaited inclusion of free emergency contraception in a nationally commissioned service to the inclusion of depression in the New Medicine Service (NMS), the role of pharmacies on the frontline of healthcare has never been more visible.

This is also the year when community pharmacy’s place in the wider health system is being redefined. The Government has leaned heavily on the sector to ease GP pressures, improve access to urgent care, and deliver public health priorities at scale.

But with opportunity comes challenge: funding pressures remain, workforce capacity is stretched and governance requirements are tightening.

The developments of 2025 are not just policy headlines – they are the framework within which community pharmacy will continue to prove its value as the NHS’s most accessible clinical service.

Contributing author: Nicola Tyers, head of school, Medway School of Pharmacy