
Production of a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment is a statutory requirement for each local Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) every three years or more frequently. Below you can find the latest PNA report for Southampton which was published in August 2025.
The PNA is key tool to inform the commissioning of essential, enhanced, and advanced pharmaceutical services from community pharmacies by NHS England and of complementary local services commissioned by the Public Health department of the local authority and by other local commissioners such as the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Health and Wellbeing Board.
The NHS (Pharmaceutical Services and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 set out the legislative basis for developing and updating PNAs. The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2014 have been published to amend these regulations following a report published by the Joint Committee on statutory instruments. More recently, The NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 were published.
Previous PNA documents are available in the resources section below.
The Southampton PNA explains the different types of pharmacies and pharmaceutical services and details of the current provision of these in Southampton, which has 38 community pharmacies.
Assessment of the needs for pharmaceutical services in Southampton is underpinned by a wealth of demographic, economic and health data which is available in the supporting appendices in Part 2, (this can be accessed in the resources section below). The supporting information also includes a detailed consideration of inequalities and specific population groups.
The conclusion of this assessment is that, in Southampton, the number, distribution, and choice of pharmaceutical services meet the needs of the population and future needs within the lifetime of this PNA. Therefore, there is no identified need for improvements or better access to pharmaceutical services in the city.
Available below is the main report of the Southampton PNA 2025 (part 1) and supporting information, in part 2. Also available are the results of the consultation on the PNA that ran during April and May 2025.
Map showing location and names of pharmacies in Southampton, last updated in August 2025. Is available in the Southampton Geographies dashboard, under other topics hospitals and pharmacies.
A supplementary statement is published to explain changes to the availability of pharmaceutical services, issued in accordance with Part 2; (6) 3 of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. Supplementary statements are statements of fact; they do not make any assessment of the impact the change may have on the need for pharmaceutical services. Effectively, they are an update of what the pharmaceutical needs assessment says about the availability of pharmaceutical services. Below are the current supplementary statements for the PNA 2025 and details on how to update a PNA or supplementary statement.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has released new regulations in June 2025, which include regulatory changes to the community pharmacy sector, including those on distance selling premises (DSP) pharmacies and core opening hours. The amendment regulations made changes to the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 (the PLPS regulations), which were agreed in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 negotiations between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE), and Community Pharmacy England. More details on these changes can be found below.
The regulations came into effect on 1 April 2013 and replaced the 2012 regulations. They reflect the new NHS architecture, in which NHS England (the NHS Commissioning Board, NHSCB) is responsible for maintaining pharmaceutical lists, and the Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWB) are responsible for developing and publishing the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments, which are used in the determination of routine applications for new pharmacies.
Below are the previous versions of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA).
Last updated: 18 September 2025