With current and future shortfall in GP and nurse numbers, pharmacists are ideally placed to support their fellow professionals and improve the quality of care for patients.
In a joint statement from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), key areas were identified whereby working together pharmacists and GPs can improve the quality of patient care.
The RCGP and the RPS believe that the primary role of the practice based pharmacist will be to deal with the many medicine related problems and issues that arise in every GP practice on a day to day basis. The role will fundamentally improve the safety of medicines, ensuring excellent communication and collaboration between pharmacist colleagues working in both community pharmacies and hospitals.
GP surgeries could also be a useful destination for the excess numbers of pharmacists qualifying. With 10,000 pharmacists coming onto the register over the next few years this could be a fantastic opportunity for a key clinical role. The proposal would also benefit nearby community and hospital pharmacists. They should find it much easier to resolve medicines queries if they could speak to a pharmacist at the surgery. The role would be a facilitating one for the whole profession.