Pharmacy Services

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2022

There are 62 pharmacies in Newcastle providing services to approximately 306,824 people who live in the city, as well as those who visit, study and work in Newcastle. There are an average of 19.6 pharmacies per 100,000 population, compared to a national figure of 20.4 per 100,000.

A pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) is a document describing where community pharmacies are located, how services are currently delivered and what the current and potential need for pharmacy services in Newcastle will be. The purpose of the document in two-fold:

1. To determine if there are sufficient community pharmacies to meet the needs of Newcastle’s population.
2. To determine other services which could be delivered by community pharmacies to meet the identified health needs of the population.

The PNA includes information on:

• The health needs of Newcastle’s population.
• The location of pharmacies in Newcastle and the services they offer. These include:
  • Essential services, such as dispensing of prescriptions.
  • Advanced services, such as community pharmacist consultations and the flu vaccination service.
  • Enhanced services, such as Covid-19 vaccine administration.
• Maps relating to location of pharmacies and associated travel times.
• Pharmacy opening times.
• Potential gaps in pharmaceutical provision.

The PNA concludes that the pharmacy provision adequately meets the needs of those accessing the services. A 60-day statutory consultation was undertaken via Let’s Talk Newcastle and the responses were used to inform the final document. An overview can be found in Appendix 5 of the PNA.

The PNA can be found on the Public Health reports page.

Health and wellbeing Boards are responsible for developing and updating PNAs every 3 years, with the next revision due in 2025. The City Futures Board is Newcastle’s statutory Health and Wellbeing Board. If you would like to report any changes to pharmaceutical services in the Newcastle area, please email michelle.stamp@newcastle.gov.uk.