The Health Bill (see our news item of 5 June 2026) is now being considered in committee in the House of Commons. A number of amendments of interest to pharmacy have been tabled.
Government amendments
It seems safe to expect that Government amendments will go through. These include:
Rights of appeal
Section 151 of the National Health Service Act 2006 empowers NHS England to remove a person from a pharmaceutical list (take away an NHS pharmacy contract) on specified grounds that include:
- continued inclusion in the list being prejudicial to the efficiency of the services the pharmacy owner has undertaken to provide;
- defrauding the NHS;
- being unsuitable for inclusion in the list.
Currently, there is a right of appeal (in section 158) to the First Tier Tribunal. A proposed amendment would have the effect of transferring the right of appeal to an NHS body determined by regulations. It is expected that initially this will be NHS Resolution which already deals with appeals in pharmacy market entry cases in England.
Adopting non-UK standards for medicines and medical devices
Another government amendment would amend the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 to (a) enable regulations to refer to both international agreements and standards and standards developed in the United Kingdom and (b) enable the Secretary of State to dispense with requirements placed on devices which meet regulatory requirements applicable outside the United Kingdom.
Non-Government amendments
Other amendments would:
- give the Secretary of State power to direct integrated care boards, NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts, and NHS Advanced Foundation Trusts to implement a scheme to provide early access to medicines to people with life-threatening or seriously debilitating conditions;
- ensure that each integrated care board includes at least one member who is a registered medical practitioner, and has current or recent experience of providing primary medical services;
- ensure a range of primary care providers, including community pharmacy contractors, are consulted by integrated care boards in the development of their healthcare plans;
- impose a duty on the Secretary of State to publish a strategy to combat anti-vaccine and medical disinformation.
- create a requirement for the Secretary of State to make regulations which prevent puberty blockers from being prescribed to persons under 18 years of age for the purposes of treatment related to gender incongruence, or clinical trials related to gender incongruence unless specifically approved by Parliament;
- make it illegal for doctors to go on strike.