Steve Bradley, group managing director, Cegedim UK, writes why community pharmacy should be at the heart of a modern NHS.
Pharmacy
The latest blueprint for the NHS in England vows to put community pharmacy at the heart of a new model of joined up care. The NHS Long Term Plan, published this January, outlines a vision for ‘fully integrated community-based healthcare’ where pharmacists play a prominent role in multidisciplinary teams aligned with new primary care networks. It’s an ambitious framework that finally gives community pharmacists a seat at the top table of NHS care. However, with opportunity comes challenge. Somehow, a profession that has for so long operated at the edges of primary care must be properly integrated into the wider ecosystem to provide added value for patients. Getting there will require a system-wide shift in culture and connective technologies to fuel collaboration. The former may take time. The latter is readily available.
The Long Term Plan promises to ‘make greater use of community pharmacists’ skills and engagement with patients’, empowering them to support urgent care, promote self-care and provide an accessible alternative to A&E for patients that don’t need hospital. In addition, retail pharmacy will become a ‘wellness destination’ where consumers can go for health checks for a range of high-risk conditions or education on the correct use of medicines. In time, as the NHS chases down a five-year target to give every patient the right to ‘digital’ GP consultations, pharmacists could themselves feature in the online interaction, providing virtual services as trusted professionals at the centre of connected care pathways. Healthcare in England is poised to move into the 21st century, with community pharmacy finally being given some much-deserved skin in the game.