New ARRS pharmacist funding confirmed by NHS England

NHS England (NHSE) has confirmed the funding allocated to each Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) role for 2025/26, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Primary care networks (PCNs) will be able to claim £66,972 per clinical pharmacist (Band 7-8a) working under the scheme, according to the latest contract.

This is a 1.7% increase on the most recent reimbursement rate of £65,838, which applied from October 2024.

The 2025/26 reimbursable amount rises to £74,392 for outer London and £77,545 for inner London.

ARRS funding is used to fund salaries and some on costs.

1.7% uplift for ARRS advanced pharmacist practitioner reimbursement

This financial year, employers will also be able to claim £73,334 towards each ARRS advanced pharmacist practitioner (APP), working at Band 8a. This is also an increase of 1.7% from October's rates.

The 2025/26 reimbursement amount for an APP rises to £80,754 for outer London and £83,907 for inner London.

2.2% uplift for ARRS pharmacy technician reimbursement

Pharmacy technician reimbursement has seen a 2.2% uplift since October 2024.

For 2025/26, the maximum reimbursement amount for an ARRS pharmacy technician, working at Band 5, is £43,352.

This rises to £49,967 for outer London and £52,172 for inner London.

16% uplift to overall ARRS funding

And overall ARRS funding has gone up by 16% since last year, to £26.631 per weighted population in this year's contract.

Some previous uplifts to ARRS reimbursement have not been matched by overall funding increases, meaning that if PCNs uplift ARRS salaries, they risked having less money to hire further roles, or potentially even reduced their workforce.

But it is unclear whether this change will be reflected in the salaries of ARRS pharmacists, which are often 'topped-up' by PCNs to pay pharmacists an above-reimbursement salary.

Funding for ARRS GPs no longer ringfenced

This year, for the first time, general practice nurses, primary care consultant nurses and GPs will be eligible for ARRS funding from the same unrestricted sum as other roles.

Previously, GP ARRS roles, which were introduced in October 2024, were funded from a separate ringfenced pot to other roles.

President of the Primary Care Association (PCPA) Dr Graham Stretch told The Pharmacist he had noticed 'nervousness' among ARRS pharmacists worried their role might be at risk if a PCN chose to recruit a GP or nurse with that funding instead.

And he told ARRS pharmacists to 'make their presence felt' so that they could be seen as 'such good value so they don't want to hire somebody else'.