The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme funds a sizeable share of the clinical workforce in Primary Care Networks. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians make up two of the most-claimed roles under the scheme, and demand has not slowed. What has changed in 2026 is the scrutiny. PCNs are expected to show that ARRS roles are deployed effectively, supervised properly, and adding measurable patient-care value.

This guide covers the practicalities. What ARRS pharmacist roles look like in 2026, what PCNs can claim for, where the common delivery problems sit, and the route most networks take to turn the funding into reliable clinical capacity.

What the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme funds

ARRS is the funding stream under the Network Contract Direct Enhanced Service that lets PCNs claim back the cost of specific clinical and operational roles. NHS England sets the eligible role list, the reimbursement caps, and the supervision requirements. PCNs decide which roles to recruit and how to deploy them.

Clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have been on the eligible list since the original 2019 framework and remain there in 2026. The roles are reimbursable at agreed maximum amounts covering salary, employer National Insurance, and employer pension contributions. The PCN does not absorb employment costs out of its core funding.

Pharmacist roles eligible under ARRS in 2026

Clinical pharmacist

A registered pharmacist working within general practice teams. Day-to-day work covers structured medication reviews, high-risk drug monitoring, repeat prescription management, long-term condition reviews, and triaging medicines queries from GPs and patients. Most PCNs deploy clinical pharmacists across more than one practice in the network.

Senior or advanced clinical pharmacist

A clinical pharmacist who is also an independent prescriber, usually with three to five years of post-registration experience and a clinical specialism. Cardiovascular. Respiratory. Frailty. Mental health. The reimbursement cap sits higher than for a standard clinical pharmacist, reflecting the prescribing scope and the supervisory contribution to the wider pharmacist cohort.

Pharmacy technician

A General Pharmaceutical Council-registered technician. The role centres on medicines reconciliation, repeat prescription processing, hospital discharge follow-up, audit data extraction, and supporting the clinical pharmacist team with non-clinical activity. A well-deployed technician removes hours of administrative load from clinical pharmacists. Every reimbursed pharmacist hour goes further.

Funding and reimbursement

Reimbursement is paid against actual employment cost up to the maximum reimbursable amount for that role and band. PCNs claim through their commissioner each quarter, evidenced by payroll records. Any cost above the cap falls to the PCN.

Two practical points that catch PCNs out:

• Reimbursement is for the role, not the individual. If a pharmacist leaves mid-quarter, the claim covers actual paid weeks, not the vacancy.
• Locum and agency staff are reimbursable, but only where the PCN can evidence employment arrangements meeting NHS England requirements. Most PCNs use a single managed-service partner to keep this audit-clean.

Common challenges PCNs face delivering ARRS pharmacist services

Funding is the easy part. Translating funded headcount into productive clinical work is where networks lose value.

Supervision capacity. Clinical pharmacists in primary care need clinical supervision. Senior pharmacists need clinical supervision from a prescriber. PCNs without an in-house senior pharmacist often end up paying twice. Once for the role, once for external supervision.

Practice variation. Six practices in a PCN can have six different prescribing systems, six approaches to repeat authorisation, and six different protocols for medication review documentation. Pharmacists spend their first weeks unpicking variation rather than delivering reviews.

Recruitment timelines. From advert to first clinic, the typical NHS recruitment cycle for a clinical pharmacist is twelve to eighteen weeks. ARRS funding is paid in arrears, so a delayed start delays the reimbursement.

Reporting overhead. PCNs need to evidence ARRS pharmacist activity, not just headcount. Capturing structured medication reviews, high-risk drug monitoring contacts, and saved GP appointments takes consistent data discipline. Usually a technician’s remit.

How to structure ARRS pharmacist delivery effectively

The networks that get the most clinical value from their ARRS pharmacist budget tend to share four practices.

1. Centralised governance. One supervising senior pharmacist, one set of clinical protocols, one shared documentation template across all practices in the network. Variation is paid for in pharmacist time.
2. Role pairing. Every clinical pharmacist paired with a technician for repeat prescription, reconciliation and audit support. Clinical pharmacist hours concentrate on tasks that only a prescriber can do.
3. Outcome tracking. Weekly capture of structured medication reviews completed, high-risk drug monitoring contacts, and prescribing changes made. Quarterly summary to the Clinical Director.
4. Cohort case discussions. Monthly multi-disciplinary cohort review across all PCN pharmacists, anchored by the senior pharmacist. Lifts clinical quality and reduces the supervision burden on individual practices.

When to use a managed-service provider

Networks usually consider an external ARRS partner in three situations.

• Recruitment risk. PCNs in regions with thin local pharmacist pools struggle to recruit directly and lose months of reimbursement waiting on candidates.
• Supervision gap. PCNs without an in-house senior pharmacist need external clinical supervision before the first pharmacist can prescribe.
• Governance overhead. PCN management teams report that ARRS pharmacist administration consumes a disproportionate share of Clinical Director time. Payroll. Professional indemnity confirmation. NHS England returns. Clinical audit.

A managed provider takes recruitment, supervision and governance off the PCN. The funding mechanic does not change. Reimbursement still flows from NHS England to the PCN. The operational lift is absorbed by the provider.

Where to start

If your PCN is at any of the three pinch points above, the most efficient first step is a one-call scoping conversation. Which roles are funded. Which practices in the network would benefit first. What governance you already have in place.

We provide that scoping as a free service. Visit our ARRS support service page to see how we deliver, or get in touch through our enquiry form.