Community Pharmacies: The Forgotten Frontline of Public Health

If you walk down any high street in Britain, you’ll find small pharmacies with the green cross sign. Most people visit them for medicine or prescriptions but these shops are doing much more. Community pharmacies are quiet but powerful parts of our public health system.

From flu jabs and blood-pressure checks to smoking-cessation support and emergency contraception, pharmacists are doing far more than filling bottles and boxes. During the pandemic, they became trusted local anchors offering vaccines, advice and reassurance when GP surgeries were closed or stretched thin. For many, especially older adults and those in deprived areas, the local pharmacist was their only consistent contact with healthcare.

Yet despite their reach, pharmacies rarely feature prominently in local health strategies. Services are often poorly advertised and public awareness remains low. Many residents simply don’t know that they can walk in for a free blood-pressure check or smoking-cessation consultation. This is where local authorities can make a real difference.

Some already have. In Stockport, for example, the council works with local pharmacies to deliver NHS Health Checks and stop-smoking services. These pharmacies act as neighbourhood health hubs, helping people in areas where GP appointments are hard to get. It’s a smart and simple idea that shows what can happen when councils support the pharmacies already on their doorsteps.

But more places need to follow. Local governments should run public campaigns to tell people what services their local pharmacies offer. They should also collect information on how much people trust pharmacists and how often they use these services. And, most importantly, councils and the NHS must make sure pharmacies are properly funded, especially in poorer areas where many are closing down.

Building trust is key. People need to know their pharmacist isn’t just someone who fills prescriptions, but a trained healthcare professional who can advise, support and refer. Local authorities can help by integrating pharmacies into prevention campaigns, featuring them in local communications and treating them as equal partners in public health planning.

The truth is, a lot of preventive care already happens in these small, everyday spaces - over a counter, during a quick blood-pressure check, or in a brief word of reassurance. Recognising that and resourcing it properly, could turn the humble pharmacy into the heartbeat of healthier communities.