The issue was raised during the first of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association’s (PDA) southeast England committee in 2026. 

The PDA said its members working in primary care noted “pharmacist prescribers are increasingly being asked to sign shared care agreements (SCA) and patient specific directions (PSD) for vaccinations delivered by health care assistants”. 

Read more: PDA to offer cash support after needlestick injuries 

It added “pressure is now being put on pharmacists to take this responsibility” as these activities were “traditionally” done by a GP. 

The Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) state that prescribers’ responsibilities for PSDs includes “a duty of care” and that they are “professionally and legally accountable for the care they provide” and they “must be satisfied” that the person administering the medicines has the “qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills to provide the care or treatment involved”. 

Locums, IPs and job losses 

The southeast England committee meeting also raised concerns about locums working in community pharmacy providing both NHS and private services “with no increase in hourly rate” along with the “continued suppression of locum rates”. 

Low locum pay was also discussed in the Scotland, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man, and Wales, West England and Channel Isles meetings. 

In the latter meeting, community pharmacists with independent prescribing qualifications said there was “increasing pressure at weekends due to the demand for services” and it highlighted the importance of having the “two-pharmacist model” to manage the demand. 

Read more: PDA offers ‘powerful’ benefit for victims of violence in pharmacies 

It added that its primary care members were concerned about the restructuring in integrated care boards (ICBs), commissioning support unit closures (CSUs), and NHS England (NHSE) being merged into the Department of Health and Social Care (DH). 

The PDA said one member reported “400 jobs” would be lost in its cluster. 

In the northern England meeting, community pharmacy members noted the “level of abuse from patients is still a concern” and with workforce pressures and targets, its affecting “stress in the workplace”. 

It comes as the PDA revealed it has agreed an increase of up to 6% in the pay rate for Boots trainee pharmacists – a larger increase than the 3.3% pay rise announced for NHS staff earlier this month.