This policy report summarises insights from the Global Policy Network’s UK Medicines Policy Series Roundtable Five, held on October 7, 2025. The session, titled “The Future of Medicines Optimisation- Driving Innovation, Equity and Better Use,” brought together senior pharmacy leaders, NHS system leaders, digital health experts, and representatives from innovation networks to explore how digital tools, AI-enabled clinical decision support, and predictive analytics can improve medicines optimisation, patient outcomes, and system efficiency across the NHS.

 

Delegates highlighted the need to move beyond siloed disease pathways toward integrated, data-enabled, and equitable approaches. Pharmacy professionals were seen as key enablers of digital adoption and as critical safety-net actors when systems fail. Persistent barriers identified included digital inequalities, fragmented and low-quality data, regulatory uncertainty for digital therapeutics and AI tools, workforce capability gaps, and short-term commissioning frameworks that fail to capture long-term value.

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The report provides practical system- and national-level actions to address these barriers, helping the NHS translate digital ambition into consistent, safe, and scalable improvements in medicines use. It is a timely contribution as the NHS seeks to realise the goals of the 10-Year Plan and keep pace with international advances in digital health.