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The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service and changes to the New Medicine Service will take place as scheduled on October 29, NHS England has confirmed.

The main changes to the PCS are the addition of oral emergency contraception, and the addition of drospirenone within the list of contraceptives which can be supplied. Importantly, pharmacy technicians will now be able to deliver the service.

NHS England has also published the final service documents to support the expanded service.

Community Pharmacy England has updated its resources to support pharmacy owners and their teams to provide and promote the expanded service.

The NMS is being expanded to include depression as an eligible therapeutic area. This is reflected in the updated service specification and NMS Eligible Drug List.

The service specification, a final version of which is now on the NHS website, has been amended to clarify that subcontracting of the service is not allowed.

CPE is advising pharmacy owner to review the revised service documentation if they have not already done so, and ensure that staff who will provide the amended services are aware of the changes and competent to provide the updated services.

CPE says there is no mandatory training for the expanded services, but points out that a training programme on consulting with people with mental health problems is included in the Pharmacy Quality Scheme for 2025/26.