PM Healthcare Journal – Winter 2026

As we step bravely into 2026 we could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of healthcare déjà vu.

The challenges in the NHS persistently run hot and remain very much the same – workforce shortages, long waits and relentless pressure on emergency care. These have become the backbeat of a system still under pressure, despite talk of recovery and reform. And we have yet to get to the bottom of ICS/ICB mergers, as operational changes take effect but the required system-changing legislation is still being decided.

For pharmacy and other sectors, pressures are not abstract but show up every day in busier dispensaries, waiting lists, busier wards and more complex patients, many of whom find accessing services increasingly difficult.

A major milestone this year will be newly qualified pharmacists graduating as independent prescribers, a development that may be transformative at a time when access to primary care services is stretched. This new opportunity must be offset by the reality of many pharmacies struggling, especially in the community setting where expectations are high but support may not be forthcoming. Asking pharmacy to do more is one thing, resourcing it properly is another.

In our first Journal of 2026:

• The National Pharmacy Association provides an expert and insightful article on the opportunities and challenges facing the community pharmacy sector.
• In ‘Lift and Shift’, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sciensus Pharma describe how their collaboration led to efficiencies and savings in the use of biosimilars.
• South-West London ICB explains how it has pioneered a holistic digital strategy that has optimised patient outcomes for high-cost drugs.
• A review of the prescribing of oral antibiotics for the treatment of acne by general practices across one ICB outlines the impact of incentivising practices to identify and review patients to ascertain if management was in line with NICE guidance.
• Priya Kumar, GP Partner at Kumar Medical Centre, describes how it implemented the Johns Hopkins ACG® System to redesign urgent care and QOF processes to address patient complexity and population health more effectively.
• And Rachael Lemon advocates that pharmacists need to be properly trained and have their own wellbeing supported when they provide care for patients who have experienced trauma.

As ever, our objective is to provide you with insights that translate into examples of best practice and real-world experience. If you have an idea for an article that you would like to share, then please get in touch.

Link to the latest Journal here: https://www.pmhealthcare.co.uk/journals

John Chater

Editor – PM Healthcare Journal

T: 0333 800 2850

M: 07511 793469

E: [email protected]

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