Pharmacist Prescribing Services urged to be commissioned immediately – The Company Chemists Association (CCA) has urged that the NHS should immediately commission services which allow prescribing pharmacists to develop a more clinical role in community pharmacy, utilising their prescribing skills more.
The CCA has requested support and investment from policymakers and suggests many ideas on how there can be support initiatives around specific agendas such as urgent care, prevention, cardiovascular disease and reducing hospital readmissions.
Furthermore, they have advised there needs to be a modern way to reimburse and commission pharmacists to deliver these services without unnecessary delays, allowing efficient and speedy ways to update regulatory frameworks and a smooth and seamless way that pharmacies can receive patient referrals across the NHS.
They have also called upon the government and NHS England to launch a funded Pharmacy First Service which is predicted to shift at least 30.5 million urgent and same day appointments a year from the GP practices. CCA also claims that community pharmacies could free up to 42 million GP appointments annually, be able to reduce hospital readmissions by 65,000 and provide 10 million more routine vaccinations.
The CCA have also acknowledged that in order for these services to be commissioned properly and be successful in delivering the numbers predicted, policymakers really do need to take a look into the current business model for pharmacy and acknowledge it isn’t working. Furthermore, considerable investment and support needs to be given to community pharmacies to transform how they deliver more and more prescribing services. #SaveOurPharmacies campaign is about raising awareness and building support for an immediate financial boost to protect and enhance the future of community pharmacies.