The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has republished a three-year-old report which underscores the vital role of community pharmacists and pharmacy t
echnicians in a 'modern NHS' amid speculations that the government is set to announce plans to enhance the role of community pharmacy teams.
PDA's 2019 report which "took three year to compile" highlighted significant empirical evidence and made recommendations to develop the roles of both community
pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and the skill mix required to meet patients' needs.
It examined in detail the role of pharmacy technicians in community pharmacy.
The PDA still that pressure on the NHS can be managed much more effectively through the better use of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. In the community
pharmacy setting, it is evident that if the further development of the pharmacist's role is to be facilitated and pharmacists are to become more patient facing in
the future, an extended role and greater responsibility for pharmacy technicians is not only desirable, but ultimately it is essential.
Amid the ongoing furore over shortages of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits that led pharmacy staff to bear customers' wrath, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Company Chemists Association (CCA) have jointly appealed the public to be "patient and courteous to pharmacy teams".
In an open letter, the two organisations have urged patients and customers to be patient, courteous and safe while visiting their local pharmacies.
Highlighting the efforts put in by healthcare workers to keep everyone safe through this tough winter, the two organisations said the pressure of Covid-19 and shortage of LFD kits have sometimes led to verbal abuse of pharmacy staff.
Mark Lyonette, NPA chief executive said: "The vast majority of pharmacy customers and patients are polite and understanding. The supply situation with Lateral Flow Tests is stretching people's patience, but that's no excuse for abusive behaviour and people need to understand the constraints on pharmacy teams at this time."
Alongside their routine job of providing medicines, health advice and a range of NHS services, pharmacies have put in extra effort to protect people during the pandemic.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and Pharmacy Declares are inviting pharmacy teams from around the world to sign up and commit to taking "bold action"
on climate change as mentioned in a climate change charter which was published on Monday (June 13).
The charter asks pharmacy teams to commit to understanding how human health and the systems which underpin it are "reliant on the state of our natural environment"
and actively explore ways to make pharmacy practice and medicine use more sustainable.
It also asks to collaborate and share best practice to improve sustainability in pharmacy and healthcare; demonstrate leadership on sustainability or being a champion
for sustainability at work; and assist patients to optimise their medicine use to increase both health outcomes and environmental sustainability.
The individuals can also commit to a personal action on climate change of their own choosing.
The Charter is being supported by a strong coalition of organisations from across pharmacy including the Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education, the Clinical
Pharmacy Association, College of Mental Health Pharmacy and Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists.
Superdrug has announced a pay increase for newly qualified pharmacists, in a move that will see wages rise to £50,000 - ensuring that Superdrug Pharmacists
continue to receive the strongest renumeration package on the high street today.
Superdrug is also enhancing its patient experience and operational structure, with the introduction of a new role of Pharmacy Team Leader to selected pharmacy stores.
Pharmacy Team Leaders will be dispenser trained and provide a clear line of accountability for day-to-day dispensary activity including adhering to legal and
clinical frameworks whilst supporting, coaching, and developing a high-performing pharmacy team.
The role also allows Superdrug to offer a clear line of progression for talented Pharmacy Dispensers and Technicians who want to do more in their career and recognises
the valuable contribution Pharmacy Dispensers & Technicians play in community pharmacy.
In addition, the appointment of two new Heads of Pharmacy Operations sees the high street retailer driving and improving Superdrug's pharmacy performance to offer the
best possible care for patients. Craig Watt, Pharmacist and previously Area Manager, has been appointed to Head of Pharmacy Operations North and will be responsible
for the operation of Superdrug's central distribution hub serving its e-pharmacy and Online Dr team.
National pharmacy bodies have expressed their disappointment on the launch date for Tier 1 of the Pharmacy Contraception Service which has been announced by
NHS England (NHSE) as '24th April 2023′.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said that this start date for the service has not been agreed with PSNC and is in direct contradiction of our
warning to Ministers that no new or expanded services can be rolled out in 2023/24 unless extra funding is put into community pharmacies.
Responding to this announcement, PSNC Chief Executive Janet Morrison said: "This is despite our warning last month that without additional funding, the roll-out of
Year 5 additional services and the Pharmacy Quality Scheme is neither feasible nor affordable. Community pharmacies are having to work harder and harder for less
money and many are at breaking point. And just this week the results of our 2023 Pharmacy Pressures Survey have confirmed the worsening situation.
Clearly our view is not because contractors don't see the benefit of the service. This is a much-anticipated service that could deliver real benefits to patients and
community pharmacies are always eager to support public health initiatives. But capacity in the sector is now so stretched that more money is needed to safely
resource additional work.
We have repeated our concerns to the Department in recent days and reminded them of the potential for a properly funded community pharmacy sector to play a greater
role in providing clinical solutions and relieving pressures elsewhere in primary care."
Independent pharmacy chain, Peak Pharmacy, has sold two of its smaller branches - one in Little Eaton, Derbyshire, and the other in Burton-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Founded in 1981 by Peter and Jane Cattee, Peak Pharmacy has over 150 pharmacies across the UK.
The pair of Midlands pharmacies dispense an average of circa 2,800 items per month, according to specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, which
announced the sale.
The pharmacy in Burton-on-Trent has been acquired by a local first-time buyer, Mohammed Wasim Gul, while the pharmacy in Little Eaton has been purchased by
Amul Telrandhe, who is also the owner of Derwent Pharmacy in Derby.
Balmedie Pharmacy based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has been purchased by local expanding multiple operator JMF Healthcare.
Balmedie Pharmacy is a well-performing community pharmacy that dispenses an average of 5,255 items per month. It lies completely unopposed in the large Aberdeenshire
village of Balmedie, which is circa eight miles north of Aberdeen City Centre.
The pharmacy has been owned by Brian Arris since 2004 and was recently brought to market to allow him to pursue other pharmacy business opportunities.
Following a confidential sales process with Christie & Co, JMF Healthcare to benefit from new housing developments in this area of Aberdeenshire such as 300 new
homes planned in Balmedie, approved plans for up to 500 new homes in Trump Menie Estate, and 284 new homes planned in Blackdog Village.
Brian Arris, previous owner of Balmedie Pharmacy, comments, "I'm sad to see the business go as the excellent staff have helped grow the pharmacy from scratch since
2004 and we've all put our hearts and souls into providing good pharmaceutical care for the village and surrounding area. I'm confident everyone is left in safe
hands with John at the helm now."
The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) has urged the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to collate the data on actively enrolled on an
approved course or qualification for Pharmacy Technicians of commencement of training.
In a letter from Nicola Stockmann, Vice President APTUK to the GPhC to encourage the collection of data for Pre-Registration Training Pharmacy Technicians,
Stockmann said: "We value the GPHC data for Pharmacy Technician registrants to track the growth and diversity of the Pharmacy Technician profession.
With ongoing inclusive pharmacy practice priorities, APTUK has an organisational pledge to continue this work of all themes through actions. The demographics
of the Pharmacy Technician workforce continue to have a majority of white British registrants and identifying as female; the high-level data collated which is
currently available on the GPHC website does not capture those who are actively enrolled on an approved course or qualification for Pharmacy Technicians."
Community Pharmacy England has submitted a full and detailed written response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee's pharmacy inquiry.
The Committee is expected to hold oral evidence sessions when Parliament returns in the Autumn. The commencement of this inquiry follows on from those held on
other primary care sectors, including Dentistry and General Practice.
According to the Committee website this inquiry 'will explore issues impacting different types of pharmacy, with a particular focus on community, primary care and
hospital pharmacy services'.
Key themes of CPE's submission include- Suggestions on future service provision; Challenges with the pharmacy workforce; Longstanding underfunding of the sector;
and Current pressures.
Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: "This is an extremely important opportunity for all who work with and in the Pharmacy
sector, to highlight not only the extreme challenges we face, but also ideas and suggestions for what more we can do to help patients and the public in the future.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is calling on NHS England and its member to pause and reflect before further implementing the pharmacy contraception
service.
NPA board met on Tuesday (25 April) to discuss the Pharmacy Contraception Service and the board decided that - with the community pharmacy sector at breaking
point - it cannot support the immediate roll out of this service.
The association believes that with no new funding for the service, and all existing funds in effect already allocated to other pharmacy activity, any payments
to the sector for delivery of the oral contraception service will ultimately be clawed back by NHS England.
Tweeting after the meeting yesterday, the NPA said: "We can't tell pharmacy owners what they can and can't do. But we can tell them the facts; fact number one is
that with no new funding currently available everyone will be a loser from the implementation of this service on the current terms."
NPA Vice-Chair Jay Badenhorst added: "We cannot be expected to take on more and more services without the increase in funding necessary to deliver them effectively.
Meanwhile, taking on additional work when current workload already exceeds capacity risks impacting negatively on the overall quality of care people experience in
pharmacies. We still believe this could, in future, be a great new pharmacy service, but not without the extra funding necessary to deliver it safely and
effectively. We want to offer women this extra support, but if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly."
The pharmacy bodies have welcomed Health Select Committee's inquiry into pharmacy services and are calling the community pharmacies to engage fully.
On Thursday (8 June), MPs launched a new inquiry to examine the 'readiness of pharmacy services'. At the end of the inquiry, the committee will be making
recommendations to the government on what action needs to be taken to ensure the potential of pharmacy is realised. It is currently seeking views and evidence
from anyone who can answer any or some of the questions listed here by Thursday 6 July.
National Pharmacy Association (NPA), Company Chemists' Association (CCA) and Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) have confirmed that they will be submitting the
written evidence.
RPS said it will be submitting written evidence, and if they are called to give oral evidence they'll do so.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA commented: "We welcome the Health Committee's much-awaited inquiry into pharmacy. Whilst the recent announcement of
investment into the sector is welcome, this is new money for new activity. The historic underfunding of community pharmacy remains, and Primary Care Networks
(PCNs) continue to directly recruit community pharmacists.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy published a new report on Monday (January 23) that calls for "urgent action" to relieve funding pressure
so there are "opportunities" for community pharmacy teams to deliver even more for their patients.
The report highlights the need for a new "strategic vision" for pharmacy and highlights opportunities for the network to be empowered to deliver even more for
patients.
However, the manifesto also underlines that there are the very real risks that this opportunity may be lost if significant and ongoing pressures are not addressed.
The recommendations are based on written and oral evidence gathered from frontline pharmacists, GPs, professional bodies and healthcare experts.
To harness the potential of pharmacy, the report recommends the Government must take urgent action to relieve the funding pressures on the community pharmacy sector
in the short term and review the long-term funding model for pharmacy.
It also suggested the Government must harness the power of pharmacy to help the NHS deal with the COVID-19 backlog and the UK's growing healthcare challenges.
It further recommended that future commissioning and funding must recognise that community pharmacy is the front door to the NHS for many patients.
The Council of Pharmaceutical Society NI acknowledged the contribution of pharmacy technicians in Northern Ireland on 'Pharmacy Technician Day' celebrated on
18 October.
The society said: "Today we mark Pharmacy Technician Day and wish to acknowledge the significant contribution Pharmacy Technicians and support staff make, as an
integral part of the pharmacy team, to patient wellbeing and care in Northern Ireland."
In June, Health Minister Robin Swann announced that he has approved work to begin to bring Pharmacy Technicians in Northern Ireland under statutory regulation by
the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.
The public consultation was launched in March 2022 on a proposal to introduce statutory regulation of the Pharmacy Technician workforce in Northern Ireland.
Pharmacy bodies and MPs discussed on support needed to unlock the "full potential" of community pharmacy at the All Pharmacy Party Group (APPG)'s general
meeting held in Westminster on Tuesday (01 November).
The attendees of the meeting were Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee; Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of The
Company Chemists' Association; Thorrun Govind, Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society; Sanjeev Panesar, National Pharmacy Association Board Member, and Pharmacist
Superintendent and Owner of the Pan Pharmacy Group; and Sandeep Dhami, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies member and superintendent at MW Phillips Chemist
At the session, 18 parliamentarians were briefed on the myriad of ways pharmacies contribute to the health of the nation.
The panel of experts also highlighted that pharmacists are 'running out of fuel' with the growing challenges such as flat funding, workforce shortages and the
cost-of-living crisis impacting pharmacies' ability to deliver vital services.
In an oral parliamentary debate on community pharmacy held on Monday (20 March), the government was asked for an indication of 'how much it would cost to
make the best use of community pharmacies'.
A number of Peers at the House of Lords spoke out in support of pharmacies, while others asked when would the government address the current crisis in the sector.
Kicking off the session, Baroness Hodgson asked the responding minister, Lord Evans, about recent pharmacy closures as well as underfunding. She asked whether the
government would 'enter into discussions with PSNC to look at introducing a fairly funded pharmacy first service as soon as possible which will help relieve the
work load on GPs'.
The minister responded: "We have already introduced and funded a range of service in community pharmacy that make use of the clinical skills of pharmacy teams… we
continue to discuss with PSNC how the government can best support the sector to provide support to patients."
The House of Lords oral questions session was opened by Baroness Hodgson on behalf of Baroness Cumberlege as follows: "To ask His Majesty's Government what plans
they have for making the best use of community pharmacies".
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a partnership with the charity Marie Curie to develop professional standards in end of life care for community pharmacy.
Available for pharmacy teams across the UK, the standards will provide a free, evidence-based framework to help community pharmacies self-assess and continuously improve their end of life and bereavement care for patients and carers.
They will enable community pharmacy teams to work together to develop their own practice.
RPS is setting up a professional standard steering group which will have community pharmacy experts, experts within the field of palliative and end of life care,
lay members, and healthcare professionals who interact with community pharmacy.
Elen Jones, director lead for palliative care work at RPS, said: "RPS has a long-term commitment, striving to ensure that people living with life-limiting conditions
who are approaching the end of life have timely access to medicines and clinical support from a skilled pharmacy team.
"The development of these standards, in partnership with Marie Curie, is a crucial step to support community pharmacy teams to undertake simple quality improvement
measures and build upon the care they already provide to this group of patients and carers."
The Company Chemists Association (CCA)'s 'Prospectus for community pharmacy' has revealed that community pharmacies can release over 42 million appointments
from general practice every year.
In its prospect, the association calculated that community pharmacies could reduce hospital readmissions by 65,000 and administer an additional 10m routine vaccines
annually.
The prospectus sets out bold ideas and proposals regarding the future of community pharmacy. The association said: "Community pharmacies already work collaboratively
with the NHS to ensure that patients can access care easily and safely. Whilst the sector has evolved considerably in recent years, the CCA proposes that pharmacies
could do even more to directly tackle key problems for patients."
CCA is concerned that without immediate action pharmacy closures will become increasingly common. "Fewer pharmacies will considerably diminish access to vital
medicines and services, with the greatest impact on those in deprived communities."
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has raised concerns over the NHS ad campaign highlighting how community pharmacies can support patients
with non-health advice amidst the growing pressure on pharmacies.
It believes the campaign will only 'worsen' the pressure on pharmacies.
"It is always deeply concerning to see campaigns directing people to pharmacies without any regard for the pressures they are under: it is irresponsible and extremely
unhelpful," said PSNC Chief Executive Janet Morrison.
She called the campaign 'particularly irritating' just weeks after the committee rejected a series of proposals from NHS England and DHSC on relief measures to ease
pressure on pharmacies as being totally inadequate.
"NHS England Board Members have noted the pressure on pharmacies - so why are their teams so often acting to make these pressures worse? We need to see a radical
change in how NHS England treats pharmacies and we're continuing to press for that via our influencing and campaigning work," she added.
The NHS launched the new campaign on Monday (27 February) to highlight how high-street pharmacies can support patients with non-urgent health advice for minor
conditions including coughs, aches and colds.
YouGov polling commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has revealed that majority of the people responding to the poll said
that they would be concern by the pharmacy closure in their locality.
The results show the extent of the public backing for a Pharmacy First approach - PSNC has been arguing that a fully-funded service would be beneficial for pharmacies,
patients and the wider NHS.
The poll witnessed 1,774 adults' participation from England. It showed 68 per cent of people agree that they would find it easier to seek health advice for common
conditions, such as skin conditions or indigestion, at a community pharmacy rather than a GP surgery. Only 11 per cent disagreed that this would be easier.
While 75 per cent of people agree that they would like to see community pharmacies offering more healthcare services such as treating urinary tract infections or
sore throats. Only 6 per cent strongly disagreed with this.
When asked how important, if at all, are the services provided by community pharmacies to them, their family, or community, 78 per cent indicted this was very
important. Only 14 per cent said this wasn't important.
77 per cent said they would be very concerned if the pharmacy they use most often were to close permanently. Only 19 per cent said they would not be very concerned.
All pharmacy businesses are reporting that they are struggling to find the registered professionals needed to open their pharmacies, clarified the Company
Chemists' Association (CCA) in response to an attack by the Pharmacists' Defence Association.
Last week, PDA allegedly accused some large pharmacy chains of 'orchestrating' full or part-time closures of some of their shops due to the staff shortage.
In its Open Letter published on Tuesday (July 19), PDA demanded urgent action "to protect patients by ensuring that essential community pharmacy services are
provided safely and consistently".
"All parts of the healthcare system are struggling to recruit staff and to assume that pharmacies would be immune to such pressures, seems fanciful," said CCA.
"CCA members are working extraordinarily hard to prevent temporary closures, but recruitment and retention of pharmacists is becoming increasingly tough. The recent
rise in Covid cases and the beginning of the summer holiday season in parts of the UK have only worsened the situation."
The Association also showed data from the PSNC Pharmacy Pressures Survey (April 2022) which found that 91 per cent of pharmacies are experiencing staff shortages,
clearly demonstrating that these shortages are affecting the entire sector.
