FOI 2025/1493

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from Greater Manchester ICB:

1. How many pharmacy pathfinder programmes does the ICB have? Please can you answer this as a number and also list the clinical area of focus for each pathfinder programme and the names of the pharmacists taking part and/or the business names and addresses of the pharmacies taking part.
2. Have you measured the outcomes/successes of the programme so far across the ICB? If so, please share what these outcomes were and what metrics were used.
3. How much money in total will you have paid into the pharmacy pathfinder programme since it started to the end date on 31 December 2025? Please break it down by months if possible.
4. The funding comes to an end on 31 Dec 2025; however NHS England is consulting with the pharmacy negotiator on a national service from April 2026 (our coverage here). Will the ICB fund the service between Jan 2016 and end of March 2026?
5. Please state how much funding will be allocated to the programme each month between January and March and indicate the difference between current funding and this figure.  If at a reduced level, please can you quantify this as a percentage of the current funding level.
6. Why are you stopping or continuing funding for the pharmacy pathfinder programmes?

1. There are 10 pharmacy pathfinder programme sites across Greater Manchester:

As the Service Level Agreement is with the pharmacy site and not the pharmacists, we are unable to provide the names of the pharmacists taking part.

2. There is a national evaluation, due to be published in 2026, local evaluations are pending as the programme has not finished yet.
3. Payments made in total to the GM sites are provided within the attached

**An excel document was sent to the requester with this response.  If you require a copy of the full response, together with the attachments, please contact NHS GM’s FOI team – nhsgm.foi@nhs.net **

As the pharmacy pathfinder programme is a nationally funded programme you may also wish to contact NHS England (NHSE) if you require any further information.  To assist you please find below a link to the NHSE website and information about how to make a Freedom of Information request.

NHS England » Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations

4. National negotiations relating to the community pharmacy contract are for NHSE/ Department of Health and Social Care not ICBs, however, NHS Greater Manchester ICB (NHS GM) is continuing to support the Pathfinder programme closedown until March 2026 as per guidance from NHSE.
5. Please refer to the response to question 3.
6. NHS GM is intending to continue funding for the pharmacy pathfinder programmes through to end of March 2026, with consideration of future arrangements. This is based upon the anticipation that independent prescribing by community pharmacies, as trialled by the Pathfinder Programme, is expected to become a substantive commissioned service, transforming access to services and improving patient experience. Therefore, rather than stop and starting local arrangements, we are looking to maintain a level of stability for established provision as the future arrangements are confirmed.