Community Pharmacy Lead Officers
You can view your CPLO here
Community Pharmacy Lead Officers: Strengthening Pharmacy’s Role in Neighbourhood Care
Community pharmacy is entering a pivotal phase. The NHS 10-Year Health Plan and the focus on Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs) make it clear that care will be delivered closer to home through neighbourhood-based multidisciplinary teams. Community pharmacy will be a core part of this future.
To support this shift, the Community Pharmacy Lead Officer (CPLO) programme has been established across the Black Country as a joint initiative between the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC).
What is the CPLO programme?
The CPLO programme provides dedicated pharmacy leadership at the Primary Care Network (PCN) and neighbourhood level. Each CPLO acts as a named link between community pharmacies, PCNs and INTs, ensuring pharmacy is visible, engaged, and represented.
The role is supportive and enabling, not regulatory. CPLOs aim to:
- Improve two-way communication between pharmacies and general practice
- Support consistent understanding and uptake of commissioned services
- Help local systems make better use of pharmacy capacity
- Feed real time pharmacy insight back into PCNs, INTs, the LPC, and the ICB
Why this matters now
National policy is increasingly clear that pharmacy has a critical role in:
- Access and demand management
- Prevention and population health
- Neighbourhood-based models of care as INTs develop and mature
However, policy alone does not ensure effective integration. Practical, on-the-ground coordination has often been missing, particularly from someone who understands both community pharmacy and PCN or GP operations. The CPLO role addresses this need.
Supporting Pharmacy First and beyond
One of the early priorities for CPLOs is supporting Pharmacy First and other nationally commissioned services. This includes:
- Helping PCNs/INTs and general practice understand what pharmacy can safely and appropriately deliver
- Improving referral confidence and pathways
- Supporting pharmacies to raise issues early where pathways or processes are not working as intended
This approach aims to improve the system for everyone and reduce unnecessary workload transfers between services.
Pharmacy’s role in Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs)
INTs are a central pillar of the 10-Year Health Plan, bringing together professionals to serve neighbourhood populations. Community pharmacy is explicitly recognised as part of this model, but visibility and engagement remain essential.
CPLOs attend PCN and INT meetings as appropriate, ensuring:
- Pharmacy services are visible and considered in neighbourhood planning
- Pharmacy intelligence (capacity, challenges, opportunities) informs local decisions
- Pharmacies are recognised as delivery partners, not as an afterthought
Governance, partnership and leadership
The CPLO programme is jointly funded by the ICB and the LPC, reflecting a shared commitment to supporting community pharmacy’s role in system transformation.
- Leads: Sukhy Somal (ICB) and Stephen Noble (LPC)
- Deputy Leads: Inderpreet Kaur and Dr Jaswinder Dhap, who also lead the Independent Prescribing Pathfinder work locally
This structure ensures strong alignment between local delivery, system priorities, and national direction.
What this means for pharmacy contractors
The CPLO programme is about:
- Giving pharmacy a stronger voice in local systems
- Improving how services are understood, supported, and used
- Creating clearer routes to raise issues and influence change
- Ensuring pharmacy is seen and treated as an equal partner in neighbourhood care
As the programme develops, learning will be shared transparently and informed by contractor input.
Community pharmacy will play a major role in the future NHS. The CPLO programme is a practical step toward making this role visible, valued and sustainable.
