Purpose

This report seeks for the contract extension of our Health and Wellbeing Locally Commissioned Services (LCS) provided by community pharmacies. This will be the first 24 months extension following an initial contract award in March 2023 for a 36 months +24 +24 total contract length.

The LCS commissioned to community pharmacies are a suite of evidence-based, behaviour change interventions which are an integral part of the wider preventative and treatment service offer in Camden. These services include Smoking Cessation, Needle Exchange and Supervised Self-Administration of Opiate Substitutes (SSA).

Since the initial contract award, there has been varying level of activity across services but on an aggregate level performance has been on an upward trend especially between 2023-2025. For instance, the needle exchange service saw an increase of 122% between 2023 and 2025 with the number of sterile needles dispensed for safer injecting practices. There were system wide changes in 2025-26 with the expansion of the national Pharmacy First service scheme which now encapsulates the previously locally commissioned Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) service. The SSA and the smoking LCS has experienced a slight decline in this year, However, the smoking LCS has recently undergone a redesign to the payment and delivery model which should support partnership efforts to increase service access and quality in the coming years. Likewise, improvement plans to the SSA service will be affected in partnership with our Drugs and Alcohol provider, Change Grow Live and our Local Pharmaceutical Committee.

Across services, plans are underway to maximise service coverage, service awareness, access and uptake though several means such as additional contracts with Boots pharmacies and several community outreach programmes. The contract extension will be vital to service continuity, allowing time for the implementation, monitoring and impact assessment of these service improvement plans.

This report is being presented to the Director of Health and Wellbeing in accordance with Contract Standing Order E1.3, in that where an officer awarded a contract, the same level of officer must agree the extension. 

Decision

(i)                 THAT the performance of the contract for Locally Commissioned Services with community pharmacies be noted; and

(ii)                THAT the extension of the contract to the list of approved individual community pharmacies for a period of 24 months from 1 April, 2026s at an indicative average total value per contract of £5735 (£410 - £18,443) based on 2024-25 activity levels, be approved.