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NHS England spent £2.017m on its recent “rerun” of a public awareness campaign aimed at boosting take-up of the Pharmacy First service, the Government has revealed. 

Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock made the promotional budget public this morning (April 13) in a written response to Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park.  

Mr Kinnock said the latest iteration of the campaign used materials that were originally developed for the 2024 winter campaign, which he said had a positive effect on the number of people who said they would go to their local pharmacy if they were affected by one of the seven clinical pathway conditions. 

He said: “The campaign was rerun between October 2025 and January 2026 to encourage people to seek treatment for seven common conditions at their local pharmacy, supporting continued efforts to relieve pressure on general practices over the winter period.

“The campaign used a wide range of media channels, including television, radio, outdoor advertising, social media and online platforms.

“In 2025-26, NHSE spent £2.017m on the Pharmacy First advertising campaign.” 

In October 2024, P3pharmacy revealed that NHSE spent £2.6m on promoting Pharmacy First to the public in the first seven months following the January 2024 launch of the service.