Decision to extend Pharmacy Services (EPS)

23 September 2026

Medicines Decision

What we’re doing

Health New Zealand and Pharmac are pleased to announce that from 1 October 2026 the range of funded medicines community pharmacies can provide directly to people in their communities will be expanded further to include:

Treatments for children with mild dermatitis
Treatments for children with bacterial and fungal skin infections
Treatments for children with oral thrush
Treatments for vaginal thrush
Selected oral contraceptives

Health New Zealand will fund consultations provided by community pharmacies for eligible people, and the Pharmaceutical Schedule will be amended to allow Direct Provision by Pharmacists in accordance with their pharmacy agreement.

What does this mean for people and community pharmacies

Health New Zealand and Pharmac understand the important role that pharmacists have in providing timely healthcare to people in New Zealand and the barriers that many people face in accessing appropriate care and treatment.

To support the role of community pharmacists as a first point of contact for those seeking clinical care, from 1 October 2026 community pharmacies will be able to supply an extended range of funded medicines to eligible people without a prescription. Pharmacies that choose to offer this service will be part funded by Health New Zealand to provide consultations and service users may be required to pay a consultation fee.

This decision follows the May 2026 decision by Health NZ and Pharmac to expand pharmacy services. The medicines included in this proposal were identified after considering feedback received during the public consultation.

May 2026 decision to expand pharmacy services (EPS)

Again, we would like to thank the people and organisations that took the time to respond to the consultation, the feedback they provided has helped us to identify and add new medicines to the extended pharmacy services programme.

If there are other medicines that you would like to be added to the programme, please share them with us at consult@pharmac.govt.nz

Who we think will be most interested

Pharmacists
Māori Pharmacists Association
Pacific Pharmacists Association
Pharmaceutical suppliers and wholesalers
Primary care providers
GPs and Primary Health Organisations
Health professionals who work with infants and young people
Health Professional Bodies
Wellchild Tamariki Ora providers
Social services
Early childhood education/care providers
Schools
Community Services Card holders and their families/whanau
Parents and Guardians of people aged under 14 years

Detail about this decision

Treatments included

A note will be added to Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 October 2026 to allow pharmacies to supply the following currently funded medicines directly to the following groups of people without a prescription when providing an Integrated Community Pharmacy Services Agreement (ICPSA) Extended Pharmacy Service (EPS).

The following medicines will also continue to be funded via a prescription for the same populations as they are now. Pharmac is not making any changes to funded eligibility.

Treatment	Eligible Population for Extended Pharmacy Service (EPS) Provision
Mild Dermatitis Emulsifying ointment – oint BP, 500 g Paraffin – oint liquid paraffin 50% with white soft paraffin 50%, 500 g Cetomacrogol with glycerol – crm 90% with glycerol 10%, 460 g cream Cetomacrogol with glycerol – crm 90% with glycerol 10%, 920 g cream Aqueous Cream – crm, 500 g Cetomacrogol – crm, 500 g Oil in water emulsion – crm, 500 g Zinc and castor oil – oint, 500 g Hydrocortisone – crm 1%, 30 g Cream	People under 14 years old
Bacterial infections Hydrogen peroxide – crm 1%, 15 g Povidone iodine – antiseptic solution 10%, 100 ml	People under 14 years old
Fungal infections Clotrimazole – crm 1%, 20 g Miconazole nitrate – crm 2% – 15 g Hydrocortisone with miconazole – crm 1% with miconazole nitrate 2%, 15 g	People under 14 years old
Oral thrush Miconazole – oral gel 20 mg per g, 40 g Nystatin – oral liq 100,000 u per ml, 24 ml	People under 14 years old
Vaginal thrush Clotrimazole – vaginal 1% crm with applicator, 35 g Clotrimazole – vaginal 2% crm with applicator, 20 g Miconazole nitrate – crm 2% with applicator, 40 g Nystatin – vaginal crm 100,000 u per 5 g with applicator(s), 75 g Fluconazole – cap 150 mg	People with a Community Services Card and aged 18 years old and over
Oral contraceptives Ethinyloestradiol with norethisterone - Tab 35 mcg with norethisterone 500 mcg Tab 35 mcg with norethisterone 1 mg and Ethinyloestradiol with levonorgestrel Tab 20 mcg with levonorgestrel 100 mcg Tab 30 mcg with levonorgestrel 150 mcg Norethisterone – tab 350 mcg Levonorgestrel – tab 30 mcg Desogestrel – tab 75 mcg	People 16–52 years old
Emergency Contraception* Levonorgestrel – tab 1.5 mg	People under 30 years of age

* Funded supply of the emergency contraceptive pill can already be provided directly by pharmacists to people of all ages who need it. The June 2026 Expanded Pharmacy services (EPS) decision resulted in Health NZ funding consultations for women aged under 25 years of age. From 1 October 2026 access to funded consultations would include women under 30 years of age.

Funding for pharmacy services

Health NZ will part-fund the consultation between pharmacists and eligible service users.

An Extended Pharmacy Service (EPS) consultation fee, to be paid by the service user may also apply, which would be reduced if the person is a Community Services Card holder.

Funding arrangements and consultation fees that may be charged to services users are the same as medicines already included in the extended pharmacy services programme. You can find more detail about these arrangements on the Health NZ website.

Extended pharmacy services | Health NZ website(external link)

Prescription copayments may still be payable, unless the Service User is exempt, for medicines supplied as part of an Extended Pharmacy Service.

A list of exemptions is available on Health NZ's website(external link)