DOH have published this presentation to describe their vision for community pharmacy, and outlines proposals for achieving that vision, whilst inviting views and comments from stakeholders.
Interesting presentation just a few things to consider, when making your submissions.
“The vision is for community pharmacy to be integrated with the wider health and social care system. This will help relieve pressure on GPs and Accident and Emergency Departments, ensure optimal use of medicines, and will mean better value and patient outcomes. It will support the promotion of healthy lifestyles and ill health prevention, as well as contributing to delivering seven day health and care services.”
One of the slides in the presentation show that that 1.6m visits are made to pharmacy each day (seven days a week).
Is pharmacy not already close to NHS patients and integrated into the wider health and social care system?
I thought pharmacy was already relieving pressure on GPs, Accident and Emergency departments seven days a week, much of it unfunded by the NHS.
Worse…
“There are 11,674 pharmacies in England (at 31 March 2015 ). This is an almost 20% increase since 2003, when there were 9,748.”
Note the use of bold lettering. The supporting graph is used to prove the point.
However what work load is pharmacy actually doing?
If you look at the graph actual numbers of pharmacies are increasing and the average number of items grows slower. Hold on, actual numbers vs averages. The DOH state 20% increase in pharmacy numbers since 2003. But the graph starts 2006/7 and if you re-work the numbers there is an actual Rx item growth of ~20% since 2006 alone. So actual pharmacy workload and actual numbers are close, but efficiencies are being gained as the average per pharmacy is still growing ~3%.
Is the graph or data misleading?
Worse still!
Is this all pharmacy now delivers? What about the work load, patient interaction and outcomes during on MUR, NMS and flu vaccinations to name a few?
Even worse!
The DOH now want to integrate pharmacy into the wider health and social care system, relieve pressure on GPs and Accident and Emergency Departments, support the promotion of healthy lifestyles and ill health prevention, as well as contributing to delivering seven day health and care services….don’t forget annual prescription items volume growth.
AND
cut funding, which is the real rationale for the change, nothing else, so pharmacy falls in line with other services, the same services we are now expected to support even more.
Written by Michael Spruzs
