An Introduction to the CPS Manifesto 2026
Published: 04/09/25
Around the globe, decades of social and healthcare sector progress have driven life expectancy higher than ever, but not all of these years gained are lived in good health, particularly in areas of higher deprivation.
The impact on the NHS of supporting an increasing number of people living with long term conditions across many years of their lives is overwhelming. This, together with rising costs and workforce pressures, is pushing established services to their limits.
Recent health policies the world over reflect this, with a global shift towards investment in prevention and earlier detection of ill health in the local community.
Community pharmacies are ideally placed to support this shift towards proactive interventions:
90% of adult population visit a pharmacy at least once a year
35% of the population used the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service at least once last year
Scotland has over 1200 Community Pharmacies located right in the heart of local communities
Currently around 40% of these Community Pharmacies offer an Independent Prescribing service, with a target of 100% by 2030.
Emerging local and international evidence supports our belief, with trials of diabetes detection and weight management in the community pharmacy setting showing great promise.
In line with this direction of travel, our mission for the foreseeable future is as follows:
“We prevent, detect and treat illness close to home, delivering healthier communities across Scotland”
Our vision
What this means in practice is that with the right investment, pharmacy teams will help the people in their local community to live in the best health possible. As well as proactively offering interventions designed to prevent ill health, teams will also support early detection of conditions through targeted screening programmes.
In addition to this, those experiencing acute illnesses as well as those living with longer-term conditions will continue to receive their medicines from their local pharmacy, with the pharmacist’s role being to ensure that they get the most benefit and least harm possible from their therapy, prescribing where necessary.
Strategy: How we get there
We can be delivering on this vision within the next five years, though there is much work to do to unlock the potential of the community pharmacy network.
We have outlined our key ambitions for improving the health of the nation which are contained in the main section of the manifesto, and in greater detail in the larger Mission, Vision and Strategy document.
Today on World Pharmacists Day we celebrate the incredible contribution that community pharmacists and their teams make to the health and wellbeing of people across Scotland.