Both the huge potential for expanding the clinical role of pharmacists and a growing concern for community pharmacy’s resources have been recognised in an independent investigation into the NHS.
The final report of Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS in England, commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has concluded that the system is in “critical condition” with growing waiting lists and problems accessing services. Its recommendations support the Government’s health mission, including a need to shift from hospital to community.
In terms of community pharmacy, Lord Darzi outlines the value of the sector given its accessibility and provision of successful services such as Pharmacy First. He describes the potential for pharmacies to provide further clinical services in the future, particularly as, from 2026, all newly-qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers. However, Darzi’s report also outlines concerns around pharmacy closures in recent years and he expresses a “very real risk” that community pharmacy could soon find itself with “too few resources in the places where it is needed the most”.
The report makes a number of suggestions of how to repair the NHS:
Re-engage staff and re-empower patients;
Lock in the shift of care closer to home by hardwiring financial flows;
Drive productivity in hospitals;
Tilt towards technology;
Contribute to the nation’s prosperity; and
Reform to make the structure deliver.
Read the report on the state of the NHS in England
Last month Community Pharmacy England submitted evidence to Lord Darzi’s team and will continue to input into the Government’s work in this area, including by feeding into the development of its 10-year healthcare plan and the Spending Reviews.
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said:
“We welcome the publication of Lord Darzi’s report, which echoes many of the concerns about the state of the NHS that we and others have been raising with policymakers for some time. Community Pharmacy England agrees that it is absolutely essential to refocus healthcare towards community and primary care services.
The report’s findings paint a bleak picture of primary care. This is even more so for community pharmacy: we have received less than any other part of the NHS, with a 30% cut in real terms over the last 7 years and a fall in share of the NHS budget from 2.4% to 1.6%. And at the same time pharmacy teams have delivered far greater efficiency with year-on-year increases in dispensing of 160 million items and a 350% increase in service delivery. The stark financial situation has reached a tipping point, and the degradation of service and risk of collapse is now putting at risk the most basic of the public’s expectations of the NHS – the safety of their medicine supply – critical to the 48% of the population who rely upon their pharmacies for their repeat prescriptions.
Government, patients and the NHS desperately need to make better use of the wealth of skills and expertise in community pharmacies, and these findings demonstrate the value of having an accessible pharmacy network supporting people to live well with the medicines they are taking and providing clinical care for patients.
With a 10-year plan for the NHS now underway, Community Pharmacy England will continue to brief Government and the NHS, recommending putting community pharmacies at the centre of delivery of the Government’s primary care priorities, focussing on provision of public health services, reducing pressure on GP practices, and other measures to position pharmacies as local health and wellbeing hubs. We look forward to discussing these in more detail very soon, and hope that we can work at pace to develop a shared ambition for pharmacies, coupled with the right investment and sustainable contractual framework.”
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