A new national emergency hormonal contraception (morning-after-pill) service will be commissioned from community pharmacies in England from October.

This will standardise the service for both patients and pharmacies, Community Pharmacy England's director of NHS services has suggested.

Pharmacies will be paid £20 per emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) consultation, plus the cost of any EHC provided.

The service will be introduced from October, subject to the necessary IT requirements being in place.

Alastair Buxton, CPE director of NHS services, told press that the new EHC service was 'a significant addition from a policy perspective' but thought that it would not mean too much extra work for pharmacies.

'It's not going to be millions and millions of supplies,' he suggested.

And he stressed that all pharmacies already provide some form of EHC service – whether through selling the morning-after-pill over the counter or participating in a locally commissioned service.

'Not all pharmacies do provide the locally commissioned services – that may be down to the what the local Commissioner can afford, or alternatively what the commissioner locally pays impacts on whether pharmacies are willing to engage in the service,' he suggested.

And he suggested that the new national payment of £20 would be 'positive' for pharmacies.

The service would also provide consistency for patients, Mr Buxton suggested.

'A lot of those [current local] services have rules around what age group of women can access emergency contraception and which cannot, which makes it difficult for pharmacy owners who cover different areas and locums who work in different areas to get their head around the service. We address that by having a national service,' he said.

'It's another new thing, but it's not really new. It's just going to be commissioned in a different way,' Mr Buxton said.

Pharmacy morning-after-pill service addresses 'postcode lottery'

Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), welcomed the service.

'This will remove the postcode lottery that women currently face when accessing this care,' he said.

Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: 'This is good news for patients and pharmacies alike.'

'For too long, access to free services has been a postcode lottery for patients, with local arrangements only existing in certain parts of the country and often being underfunded.

'Pharmacies are under enormous pressure amid the impact of record cuts to their budgets, so it is important any scheme fully reimburses them for this work,' he said.

More equal access to emergency contraception will lead to better health outcomes

Tase Oputu, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) board in England, said: 'RPS has long advocated for the provision of free emergency contraception through community pharmacies in England to align with counterparts in Scotland and Wales and is pleased this will now become a reality.

'Reducing disparities in access will lead to better health outcomes, empower women with greater choice and help reduce health inequalities.'

Increased fees and skills mix for pharmacy contraception service

The expanded pharmacy contraception service comes alongside other changes in the 2025/26 contractual framework, announced today.

This includes uplifted funding of £25 per initiation and repeat oral contraception supply from April 2025.

And suitably trained and competent pharmacy technicians will be able to provide the service.