DSPs: Service changes from 1st October 2025

Distance selling premises (DSP) pharmacies will no longer be able to provide Directed services (Advanced, National Enhanced and Enhanced Services)* face-to-face with patients at the pharmacy premises from 1st October 2025.

From this date, DSP pharmacies will only be able to provide Directed services remotely from the DSP premises, similar to the delivery of Essential services or if the service specification permits, face-to-face with the patient off-site.

Ahead of this change being implemented, below are some FAQs to support DSP pharmacy owners to understand what the change means for them.

* DSP pharmacy owners can continue to provide COVID-19 and flu vaccination services face-to-face with patients at the pharmacy premises, as part of an Advanced, National Enhanced or Enhanced service, until 31st March 2026.

Q. Can I still provide locally commissioned services at my DSP premises from 1st October 2025?
If the local service is commissioned by an Integrated Care Board (ICB) as a local Enhanced service, then DSP pharmacies will not be able to provide these services face-to-face with patients at the pharmacy premises. If the local service is not an Enhanced service and the service specification allows the provision of the service to be provided by DSP pharmacies, then provision of the service can continue.

At a local level, Enhanced services can only be commissioned by ICBs; services locally commissioned by other organisations, e.g. local authorities, will not be commissioned as an Enhanced service.

If you are not sure if a locally commissioned service is an Enhanced service, we suggest contacting your LPC for further guidance on this matter.

Q. Will I still be able to provide the Flu Vaccination Service and COVID-19 Vaccination Service after 31st March 2026?
DSP pharmacy owners will not be able to provide flu vaccinations or COVID-19 Vaccination Services face-to-face with patients at the DSP pharmacy premises after 31st March 2026.

However, both services currently allow off-site provision of flu vaccinations in certain circumstances, where agreed by the commissioner. The services are both reviewed on an annual basis, so assuming off-site vaccination continues to be allowed in certain circumstances by the commissioner, our understanding is that DSP pharmacies would continue to be able to provide the service off-site in the same way that bricks and mortar pharmacies can.

Q. If I am undertaking a remote Pharmacy First consultation for the minor illness strand of the service after 1st October 2025 and I need to physically see the patient to assess their condition, can they come to the pharmacy premises for a consultation?
No. From 1st October 2025, if the patient needs to be seen face-to-face, the patient should be referred to a bricks and mortar pharmacy or another healthcare professional for advice; they cannot come to the DSP premises from 1st October 2025 for a Pharmacy First consultation.

Q. If I am providing the Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) the patient does not know their BMI, can they come to the pharmacy so I can weigh them and measure their height to calculate their BMI for them?
No. From 1st October 2025, if the patient needs to be seen face-to-face to have measurements taken, the patient should be referred to a bricks and mortar pharmacy or another healthcare professional for advice; they cannot come to the DSP premises from 1st October 2025 for a PCS consultation.

Q. What are the rules around off-site provision of Advanced and National Enhanced services?
The following table summarises service specification/contractual provisions related to off-site provision of Advanced and National Enhanced services, i.e. provision away from the pharmacy premises and the provision of remote consultations, where the patient is not present on the pharmacy premises.

If you are considering, where permitted, off-site provision for any of the services or undertaking remote consultations, please first review the information on our service webpage and the service specification.

For information on local Enhanced services, we suggest contacting your LPC for further guidance on this matter.

Q. Why is this change being introduced?
In simple terms, DSP pharmacies will have to do what their name implies, to provide NHS pharmaceutical services remotely (at a distance) and not face-to-face with patients at, or in the vicinity of, the pharmacy premises.

The intention of the PLPS regulations was for DSPs to be remote providers of pharmaceutical services, and, on this basis, they were allowed to establish or open (subject to application) without reference to local Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNA). The expectation was that DSPs would provide NHS pharmaceutical services nationally. Not that they would deliver clinical services locally or on the High Street.

Currently, the PLPS Regulations allow DSPs to provide Advanced, National Enhanced and Enhanced Services (Directed Services) to patients present onsite, at the pharmacy premises. However, this was introduced when such services were a small part of the NHS community pharmacy offering. This has since changed and has meant that increasingly, with the provision of such services, DSPs can establish and provide such services locally, undermining the integrity of the market entry controls in the PLPS (which broadly only permit new pharmacies if local patient needs – set out in the local PNA – require one).

The first formal recognition of this issue – concern with DSPs providing Directed Service onsite, face-to-face with patients – was when the Pharmacy First Service was introduced, and DSPs were only allowed to provide Pharmacy First clinical pathways (the new part of the service) remotely.

Q. How much notice have DSP pharmacy owners been given about the changes to service delivery?
Pharmacy owners were notified of the changes to service delivery for DSP pharmacy owners on Monday 31st March 2025 when the details of the contractual settlement for 2025/26 was announced. Therefore, DSP pharmacy owners will have had a six-month notice period ahead of the changes coming into force on 1st October 2025.