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England's pharmacy contractual framework could be overhauled in the future, a senior official at NHS England has hinted.

Clare Howard, NHS England's deputy chief pharmaceutical officer, in an exclusive interview with Pharmacy Magazine, said: €If you look at what we are trying to do with the Call to Action, it's about saying how could pharmacy services be better organised to meet the needs of patients and help the NHS. At the moment, the way [they are] organised doesn't meet the needs that we have around our outcomes framework or around patients.€

However any changes would be carefully considered and not rushed into, she warned, saying: €We can't go any further at the moment. We have to look at what's come in [in response to Call to Action]. We don't want to pre-empt it.€

In the meantime, there was no reason why changes could not be made at a local level, Ms Howard said. €A national contract is often quite a blunt instrument to resolve all issues.€

It is important to find the balance between the national need for consistency and having the flexibility at a local level to innovate and develop services, as has happened in recent years, she said.