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The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

S.I. 2026/702 · Made 29 June 2026

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND

Made at 9.47 a.m. on 29th June 2026

Laid before Parliament at 3.30 p.m. on 29th June 2026

Coming into force 20th July 2026

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 164(8A)(a), (8B)(b) and (8D) and 272(7) and (8) of the National Health Service Act 2006f1.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2006 c. 41. In section 164, subsections (8A) to (8E) were inserted by the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 (c. 23), section 1, and subsections (8A) and (8D) were thereafter amended by the Health and Care Act 2022 (c. 31), section 161(1)(a) to (c). See section 275(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006 for the meanings given to “prescribed” and “regulations” which are relevant to the powers being exercised.

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement, extent and application
  2. 2Amendment to regulation 91A of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013
  3. Signature
  4. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement, extent and application

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

(2)

These Regulations come into force on 20th July 2026.

(3)

These Regulations extend to England and Wales and apply to England onlyf1.

2Amendment to regulation 91A of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013

(1)

Regulation 91A of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 (zero or nominal product reimbursement for vaccines and antivirals)f1 is amended as follows.

(2)

In paragraph (2)—

(a)

omit “or” at the end of sub-paragraph (ae); and

(b)

after sub-paragraph (ae), insert—

“(af)

a drug or medicine which is used for vaccinating or immunising people against meningococcal disease caused by—

(i)

Neisseria meningitidis groups A, C, W and Y bacteria, or

(ii)

Neisseria meningitidis group B bacteria,

if the conditions set out in paragraph (3) are satisfied;

(ag)

a drug or medicine which is used for vaccinating or immunising people against tetanus, diphtheria and polio, if the conditions set out in paragraph (3) are satisfied; or”.

(3)

In paragraph (3A), for “to (ae)” substitute “to (ag)”.

Signature

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Stephen Kinnock

Minister of State

Department of Health and Social Care

at 9.47 a.m. on 29th June 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. They govern the arrangements in England, under Part 7 of the National Health Service Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”), for the provision of NHS pharmaceutical and local pharmaceutical services.

The scheme for paying for NHS pharmaceutical and local pharmaceutical services is predicated on the basis that pharmaceutical remuneration that relates to prescription items will ordinarily include an amount which is in respect of the price that a service provider paid when they purchased a prescription item that they go on to supply or administer. However, there are powers in Part 7 of the 2006 Act to enable alternatives to these ordinary remuneration arrangements in some circumstances.

Regulation 2 amends the alternative arrangements that already allow a zero or nominal NHS reimbursement price to be set for centrally purchased vaccines for other viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus and measles, mumps and rubella, so that they also apply to centrally purchased vaccines for vaccinating or immunising people against specified causes of meningococcal disease, and for tetanus, diphtheria and polio vaccines.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the public sector is foreseen, and only a limited impact on the private sector, below the threshold for producing a full impact assessment.