Community pharmacists' expanded role in New Zealand: access, capacity and compliance considerations

Disclosure: The pharmacists interviewed for this article are family members of the authors. Their views are personal and reflect their practical experience in community pharmacy.

 

 In April 2026, the New Zealand Government announced changes to expand the role of participating community pharmacists in New Zealand, enabling them to provide certain funded medicines directly to eligible patients.

The changes are intended to improve access to healthcare for children under 14 years old with acute needs, as well as women accessing emergency contraception or acute urinary tract infection (UTI) relief. They also raise practical, operational and compliance considerations for pharmacies as they take on a more front-line clinical role.

The changes are now in place as of June 2026.

 

Key takeaways

• Participating community pharmacists can now provide certain funded medicines for selected common conditions without a prescription.
• The changes may improve access to timely treatment, particularly for children, families and rural communities.
• Pharmacy operators should consider clinical governance, workforce capacity, privacy, record-keeping and consultation space requirements.
• Effective implementation will depend on public awareness, pharmacy resourcing and clear referral pathways between pharmacists and general practitioners (GPs).

 

What has changed

Following a consultation with a community pharmacist, eligible patients will be able to access certain medication for pain and fever, oral rehydration, scabies, head lice and conjunctivitis without a prescription and at a reduced cost.

DLA Piper spoke to two community pharmacists, Fauzia Shehzad, clinical support pharmacist, and Catherine Keenan, pharmacist and owner of Vivian Pharmacy in New Plymouth, about the practical impacts of these changes for patients and pharmacies across the country. They both provided on-the-ground insights into the realities of expanding community pharmacy services.

 

Current access challenges for patients

Fauzia and Catherine both identified a number of conditions where timely access to treatment really matters, including common skin infections such as eczema and fungal infections, simple eye infections, UTIs in women, and symptoms of pain and fever.

Currently, the main causes of delays in treatment for these issues include:

• Patients managing the problems themselves: “We often see conditions like eczema and fungal infections presenting later than ideal,” said Fauzia. “A big part of the issue is that people don’t always recognise the problem early, or they try to manage it themselves for some time before seeking help.”
• Long wait times and costs: “The delay is getting an acute appointment with a doctor or nurse for diagnosis and prescribed treatment. Most GPs are booked up at least a week in advance, sometimes two to three weeks. There are walk-in clinics or online appointments, however these can be quite costly and the wait times can be prohibitive with small children,” said Catherine.
• Cost of GP appointments: Fauzia said “Getting a timely GP appointment isn’t always easy, and after-hours fees can jump significantly,” noting that the cost can be around “NZD65 after 5pm or 5.30pm, which can discourage people from accessing treatment promptly.”

 

Practical impact for patients

The changes are expected to help reduce some of the practical barriers that currently delay treatment for common acute conditions.

As Fauzia says, “Patients benefit from saving time and money and avoiding unnecessary delays in treatment. For pharmacists, while much of this work is familiar, the difference is that their time, knowledge and expertise are now formally recognised and funded by the government, rather than being absorbed into unpaid work.”

For patients, particularly working parents, Catherine noted that “simple medical problems can be sorted in one place and at a reasonable price”. This may mean parents need to take less time off work, while children can show improvements more quickly.

Overall, it is likely that we will see improved access to healthcare for the wider community and those in more remote areas, if the service is implemented effectively. The change “makes healthcare much more accessible and timely, particularly for families and people who might otherwise delay treatment due to cost,” says Fauzia.

“Rural areas or remote areas with limited GPs available will no doubt be the ones who will see the most improvements, as long as they have a pharmacy reasonably nearby,” says Catherine.

With patients who meet the criteria being able to access medication from their pharmacy, some GP wait times may reduce. It goes beyond wait times, as Fauzia says: “Once these services are in place, they should significantly reduce pressure on local GPs by taking more minor or straightforward conditions off their plates. Pharmacists will still refer patients to GPs when needed or seek medical advice for more complex cases. This creates opportunities for stronger collaboration and clearer communication between pharmacists and GPs, which ultimately benefits patient care.”

This will depend on how many people are aware of, and use, pharmacies’ expanded services. Additionally, “The GP practices will need to be upskilled in the new framework so they know when to refer back to pharmacy for a quicker solution,” says Catherine.

 

Legal and commercial considerations for pharmacies

While the changes are expected to improve access to treatment, they also place greater operational, clinical and compliance demands on participating pharmacies. Pharmacy operators should consider the following issues as the expanded services are embedded.

 

Clinical governance

Pharmacies should take a proactive approach to strengthening clinical governance frameworks as pharmacists assume a more front-line clinical role. In practice, this means investing in targeted staff training on inclusion and exclusion criteria, implementing clear and standardised clinical protocols, and using decision-support tools or checklists to guide consistent decision-making.

Pharmacies should also establish clear escalation pathways to GPs for more complex or uncertain cases.

 

Workforce and capacity

Fauzia and Catherine both note that staff and resource constraints may limit the effectiveness of the initiative, particularly as demand for patient consultations increases. Pharmacies should proactively assess whether current staffing models can support both dispensing and expanded consultation activity and make adjustments where needed.

In practice, this may involve rostering pharmacists with dedicated consultation time, increasing dispensary support during peak periods, and actively monitoring workloads to minimise fatigue-related errors. Given the already demanding nature of dispensary work, integrating time-intensive consultations into existing workflows will require careful planning.

Failing to align capacity with demand may compromise both patient safety and service quality, making early workforce planning a key priority for businesses.

 

Privacy and record-keeping

Pharmacies should review and update their privacy and record-keeping processes to reflect the expanded scope of services, ensuring compliance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, particularly in relation to the collection, storage and sharing of sensitive patient information.

In practice, this means ensuring consultations are conducted in a private setting and that robust systems are in place to accurately document clinical interactions. Pharmacies may need to reconfigure their physical layout or schedule consultations more deliberately where space is limited.

Taking these steps will help meet legal obligations while maintaining patient trust.

 

Conclusion

The expanded role of community pharmacists has the potential to improve access to healthcare across New Zealand, but its success will depend on careful implementation, appropriate resourcing and clear clinical governance.

We are grateful for the perspectives of our community pharmacists on these changes and look forward to seeing the positive impact they may have on improving healthcare access and outcomes for communities across New Zealand.

If you would like to discuss how these changes may affect your operations, or require support navigating the regulatory and commercial implications, please get in touch with DLA Piper’s Life Sciences team.