Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs) provide an up to date statement of the needs of the local population for pharmaceutical (or chemist) services.

The government requires all Health and Wellbeing Boards to produce an assessment of pharmaceutical services in its area every 3 years, to inform the NHS who commission pharmacy provision. This is undertaken using a nationally defined set of criteria.

This document is called the pdf Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) (10.19 MB) .

Its purpose is to identify any gaps in current services or improvements for future pharmaceutical service provision. The PNA identifies what pharmaceutical services are currently available in the area and where services are likely to be needed in the future, because of changes to the health or demographics of the population.

The production of the Bristol Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) was overseen by the Bristol PNA steering group on behalf of the Bristol Health and Wellbeing Board, and included consultation with the public. This PNA has a lifespan of 3 years, October 2022 to September 2025.