Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments, Done Properly
We have delivered 69 PNAs across England since 2012, every one on time and within budget. We handle the regulations, the data, the stakeholders and the committee, so your statutory duty becomes a strategic asset.
A Statutory Duty That Deserves More Than a Tick-Box
Every Health and Wellbeing Bord must publish a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, and refresh it at least every three years. The PNA is the legal basis on which NHS England decides which pharmacies open, close, merge and relocate in your area.
Done badly, it is a document that sits on a shelf until someone challenges it. Done well, it is the evidence base that protects access, informs commissioning and stands up to scrutiny.
The work to produce a PNA is unforgiving, the data is fragmented and the process depends on getting a long list of busy people around one table. Most local authorities do not have the specialt capacity in-house, and few need to.
Soar Beyond have produced 69 PNAs across every national cycle since 20212. We know what a defensible assessment looks like, and we know how to get you there without it consuming your team and resources.
Why PNAs Go Wrong
The duty is clear, but the delivery rarely is. Councils are asked to produce a regulation-compliant, evidence-led assessment on a fixed deadline, usually alongside everything else on the public health workload. The failure points are predictable, and all of them are avoidable.
Local Authority Pressures
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Statutory deadlines that do not move, competing with everything else on the public health agenda.
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Limited in-house specialist capacity in pharmacy commissioning and the 2013 regulations.
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Fragmented data across NHS England, ICB, community pharmacy and local sources.
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Stakeholder engagement and consultation that stalls without dedicated coordination.
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Formal committee and scrutiny sign-off requiring a defensible evidence trail.
Where Assessments Fall Down
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Conclusions that do not follow from the evidence, leaving the PNA open to challenge
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Gaps and improvements identified without any assessment of what they mean for access
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Mapping and travel analysis that misses real access barriers for the populations that need it
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Documents that go stale the moment a pharmacy loses, with no maintenance in place
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Steering groups that lose momentum and push delivery past the statutory deadline
What We Do
End to End, Not Advice From the Sidelines
We are not a report factory, and we are not a light-touch advisor. We run the whole PNA, from steering group set-up through to the version your committee approves.
That means the regulatory scoping, the pharmacy and public surveys, the health needs analysis, the mapping and travel work, the drafting, the 60-day consultation, and the support to present it confidently at Overview and Scrutiny.
Our proprietary data and templating technology cuts production time significantly, which is how we delivered 21 PNAs simultaneously in the 2025 cycle, all to time and budget. You get specialist capacity without recruiting for it, and a document that holds up when tested.
Clarity
Defining Role Scope, Expectations and Pathways
Pharmacists cannot lead if their role is unclear and the services are not enabled.
We provide structured frameworks and practical tools to define safe scope of practice, map career progression and guide deployment decisions to help the profession work to the ‘top of their licence’.
How?
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SMART Workforce digital competency platform: capability clarity from foundation to consultant level
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Alignment with national RPS and local LTC competency frameworks e.g. IBD for specialist pharmacists, advanced CRM and more. Where they exist, we digitise them and give them impact- where they don’t we develop them with experts
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Role definition and deployment models to support system-wide workforce planning including application of QI skills to real world implementation and evidence generation
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Conducting Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs) of Community Pharmacy Services- commissioned by Local Authorities to ensure pharmacy service provision meets population health needs.
Capability
Building Real-World Clinical Competence
Pharmacists often lack structured access to role-specific development.
We build the skills pharmacists need to deliver evidence-based care, embed national guidance and drive implementation of high-impact clinical pathways.
How?
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i2i Network: digital platform and national network of 4,700+ GP Clinical Pharmacists – designed to take insight 2 implementation. Clinical e-learning covering over 15 LTCs, f2f LTC and regional summit events and more ways to engage.
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Implementation initiatives underpinned by QI skills like 4D® designed to generate real-world evidence for all sectors of pharmacy- often underpinned by digital competence tools
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Joint delivery with pharmaceutical partners to ensure medicines are adopted safely and appropriately
Confidence
Developing Leaders of Service Transformation
Even skilled pharmacists need confidence to lead, influence and innovate.
We help pharmacists step into system leadership with the mindset, tools and visibility to shape the services of tomorrow.
How?
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i2i LEAD Programme: pharmacist-specific leadership development
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Advanced clinical and credentialing support programmes
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Coaching and strategic mentoring for those leading at system or pathway level
What Makes Soar Beyond Different?
We are
Pharmacist Led
We were founded by pharmacists, and we understand what it takes to lead implementation, not just deliver care.
We Work Across the System
We partner with ICSs, PCNs and pharmaceutical companies to align workforce development with system transformation and medicines adoption.
We Focus on
Delivery
We do not just educate,
we embed.
We enable pharmacists to lead real-world change that delivers better outcomes, improved access and sustainable capacity.