A Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) considers the health needs of the population and the provision of pharmaceutical services, and therefore, whether there are any potential gaps in pharmaceutical service delivery. It is used by NHS England in its consideration of applications to join the pharmaceutical list, and by commissioners of pharmaceutical services. The PNA for County Durham links to the health needs identified in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the priorities in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS).
The key conclusion from the PNA is that there are sufficient pharmaceutical services in the 6 localities across County Durham. This can be demonstrated with the following points:
- There is a good distribution of pharmaceutical services in areas of high population density, and in areas with more significant health needs (i.e. areas with a high population density of older people, and in areas of deprivation),
- A reasonable distribution of pharmacies exists with extended and weekend opening hours in all localities. However, this may need to be reviewed as the development of urgent care services proceeds,
- The estimated builds of future housing developments by 2021 will not require new pharmaceutical services,
- County Durham has 24 pharmacies per 100,000 population. This is higher than the England average of 21 per 100,000.