Pharmacy services in County Durham
Every three years we work with our partners (through our Health and Wellbeing Board) to produce a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA). The current PNA runs from 2022 to 2025, and we need to produce an updated one for 2025 to 2028.
The PNA considers your health needs alongside access to pharmacy and GP practice dispensary services, to identify if there are any significant gaps in service delivery.
The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Steering Group is responsible for the production of the updated PNA document. This Group has representation from pharmacies and Healthwatch.
Our current belief for the new PNA is that there are sufficient pharmaceutical services across County Durham. This can be demonstrated with several facts including:
- There is a good distribution of pharmaceutical services in areas of high population density, and in areas with more significant health needs (ie areas with a high population density of older people, and in areas of deprivation).
- A reasonable distribution of pharmacies exists and still provides extended and weekend opening hours in all localities.
- Out of area pharmaceutical services do not provide a necessary dispensing service in County Durham. This means residents are not reliant on pharmaceutical services outside the county.
- The estimated builds of future housing developments by 2028 will not require new pharmaceutical services.
- County Durham has 22 pharmacies per 100,000 population. This is higher than the England average of 21 per 100,000.
- Despite the recent challenges that the high street and community pharmacy businesses have faced, public surveys of pharmaceutical services indicate that on average 92% of people who responded stated that they could easily access pharmaceutical services in County Durham.
We want your views on the updated document for 2025 to 2028
The closing date for comments is 11.59pm on Thursday 17 July 2025.
Complete the survey or contact us by email pnaconsultation@durham.gov.uk
Phases
Engagement and mapping exercise
The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Steering Group consulted with various professionals to gather the necessary information to develop the new document.
In Summer 2024, we also engaged with a number of interested parties including Healthwatch and our Community Champions about resident experience of pharmacy services in County Durham, including how often people use pharmacy services, how easy pharmacies are to get to, what services are delivered well and what could be improved. We received over 100 responses as part of this engagement exercise.
In October 2024 we did a mapping exercise to understand what pharmaceutical services are available across the County, including services available later in the evening and those available at weekends.
All the data and learning from these exercises alongside the wider public consultation that will take place in the next phase will be considered when finalising the PNA for 2025-28.
For further detail and information, you can view the results of the mapping exercise as a interactive map.
Additionally Appendix 8 in the draft PNA provides information regarding public views gathered during the preparation of the draft document.