Former pharmacy minister Steve Brine was on Wednesday (November 2) elected chair of the influential Health and Social Care Committee, the cross-party
parliamentary group that scrutinises the work of the Department of Health and Social Care and its associated public bodies.
The Conservative MP for Winchester won 253 out of 432 votes beating off four other contenders for the role - Stephen Hammond, Dr Caroline Johnson, Anne Marie Morris
and James Morris - in a four-stage election in which MPs voted by ranking candidates in order of preference. Dr Johnson, who was Mr Brine's main challenger, bagged
148 votes in the final round.
An election for a new chair of the Health and Social Care Committee was triggered following the resignation of Jeremy Hunt MP who was appointment as chancellor of
the exchequer on October 14.
Issuing a statement after his election, Mr Brine said: "I welcome the opportunity as chair to continue the calm, measured work of Jeremy Hunt and to examine new
solutions to support the NHS to enable it to continue providing the services that we all depend upon."
The UK Parliament is preparing for a significant reshuffling of select committee Chairs, a process that will shape the direction of parliamentary oversight
for the coming term.
The temporary hiatus after May 30 due to the general election on 4 July 2024, will resume as a Liberal Democrat MP will serve as the next chair of the health and
social care committee (HSCC).
Among the most critical positions up for election is the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, which has been allocated to the Liberal Democrats.
As votes are casted to select an MP and the parliamentary landscape settles, attention is turning to what this means for the future of health policy in the UK.
Liberal Dems manifesto, released during the general election that took place in July, outlined a vision for a more equitable and sustainable healthcare system,
with a focus on enhancing accessibility and patient rights.
The Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) provide an opportunity to break the silo mentality in the health and care sector, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair
Andrew Lane told MPs.
While giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee on 6 December about the effectiveness of ICSs, Lane also poured cold water on newspaper reports
that community pharmacists will be drafted in to break the NHS strike, as he reiterated the call for a "properly costed and funded environment."
"We've been in different silos historically and ICSs are an opportunity to pull all systems together for the benefit of patients," he told committee members.
Lane pointed to dementia-trained pharmacy delivery drivers and the Discharge Medicines Service as instances where the influence of community pharmacy already
stretches beyond primary care into hospitals and social care.
"We've seen pharmacists prescribe and get UTIs off doctors' desks, so we are starting to release capacity [in the system] and we're on that clinical journey.
We welcome that, but it has to be with the right level of funding," he added.
MP Steve Brine, the chair of the health and care committee, said that the healthcare in the UK "doesn't work without pharmacy".
The inquiry focuses on addressing current issues, particularly around the "funding model, digital infrastructure and workforce recruitment, training and retention."
Brine said at the Sigma annual conference on Sunday, that he wants to "focus on the sector", and "drill down into some of the challenges and potential" that lies
ahead.
"The Health and Social Care Committee, we think about much of our work through the lens of pharmacy, what role it plays, the quality of care that it delivers, and
the potential for it to do more," said Brine.
He further said that he wants to "build on the groundwork" and to "cover as many of the different pharmacy services within the pharmacy sector as we can, so pharmacy
in our communities, in hospitals and general practice".
Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee Steve Brine MP has called on community pharmacy contractors to join a newly launched a parliamentary 'call for
evidence' which will look into 'prevention' as a key to the future of the NHS.
A former pharmacy minister and keen supporter of the sector, Mr Brine has called on all community pharmacists to "make their contribution count" by taking part in a
major inquiry which will remain open for submission until Wednesday 8 February 2023 and will also involve general practitioners, nurses and other health professionals.
Community pharmacists can submit their proposals written under 750 words, outlining what they think are the issues around prevention the parliamentary body should
explore, why these issues deserve the Commons Select Committee's attention, and how government policy could be developed or improved to address them.
The submissions will then be used to help the committee decide where it should focus its attention in the later stages of the inquiry on prevention, which is a vital
part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
The pharmacy inquiry will explore issues impacting different types of pharmacy, with a particular focus on community, primary care and hospital pharmacy
services.
It will also consider current challenges around funding, workforce and the digital infrastructure.
Planned developments within the profession will enable future pharmacists to be independent prescribers from day one of registration, giving them a greater role
within primary care teams.
Health and Social Care Committee Chair Steve Brine MP said: "It is clear that pharmacy has a central role to play in the future of the NHS. With a greater focus on
personalised and patient-centred healthcare, we will be asking what more must be done to make sure that the profession is in the best shape to meet demand.
"Better use of the pharmacy workforce would reduce pressures on general practice and hospitals. However, this will not happen without a planned workforce with the
funding, supervision and training to support it.
"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.
The Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) has announced the appointment of six specialists to scrutinise the government's progress made on its commitments
to pharmacy services in England on Wednesday (26 April).
"They will work alongside the core members of the Expert Panel to produce a report evaluating Government progress across nine of the Government's own commitments
across the four areas. A CQC-style rating from "inadequate" to "outstanding" will be awarded against each specific pledge with a final overall rating given," said
DHSC.
Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Expert Panel, said: "The role of pharmacy in delivering care whether in hospital, the community or primary care has never
been more important.
"The Government has made a number of commitments aimed at improving pharmacy services and we'll be looking at the progress to achieve these targets.
"In the process of our evaluation we'll be hearing from stakeholders from across the industry, including the pharmacy workforce and NHS and independent providers
of pharmacy services. We'll be considering pledges covering frontline services as well as the education and training of the workforce."
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive, Mark Lyonette, is one of six panel members with specialist expertise in pharmacy. They will work alongside five
standing members who are all renowned healthcare policy experts and professionals. Professor Dame Jane Dacre will chair.
Instability in the supply chain network is frequently undermining the profit margins in community pharmacies, former Pharmacy Minister and Chair of the Health
and Social Care Committee Steve Brine has said.
Brine emphasised that community pharmacies often lack information about the prices wholesalers charge for essential generic medications. "They lack visibility
into scarcity, and the pricing of these products is often significantly higher compared to other European countries," the former minister remarked during a
parliamentary debate focused on the future of community pharmacies on September 14.
From financial pressures to workforce crisis and pharmacy closures, the debate delved into critical challenges faced by pharmacies, aiming to propose tangible
solutions for a sustainable future in the sector.
Chaired by Sir Mark Hendrik, the debate was initiated by Conservative MP Peter Aldous and featured contributions from a host of participants including Labour MPs
Taiwo Owatemi and George Howarth among others.
Chair of the health and social care committee Steve Brine and England's chief pharmacist David Webb are among a raft of speakers who will be addressing
delegates at the 13th Annual Sigma Community Pharmacy Conference to be held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from Sunday (March 5).
Day I of the conference will also feature a Q&A session with PSNC CEO Janet Morrison and her lead negotiator Mike Dent, which will be presented as a live webinar
via YouTube for those unable to attend in person.
Sigma Pharmaceuticals has invited all interested community pharmacists and stakeholders in the UK to join the 90 minutes session by clicking this link.
Those joining the session will not only be able to listen to the Q&A session - which will run between 6.30PM and 8.00PM in UK on Sunday - but also ask questions to
the PSNC executives via a live YouTube chat.
Sigma says the operating landscape for community pharmacy has altered dramatically since it last held its 'away conference' in the Philippines in February 2020. The
role of the independents - post pandemic - has rapidly evolved and has now been recognised by the health secretary as playing a significant part in the health of
the nation.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has expressed disappointment as the government continued to refuse to "a much-needed broader funding uplift" for the community pharmacies in England.
This follows conclusion of the first Annual Review of the progress of the five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) deal by PSNC, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSE&I).
"We remain deeply frustrated by government's refusal to agree a much-needed broader funding uplift for the sector, but we are determined to continue to look for
better ways forward for the sector throughout 2022 and beyond," said Bharat Patel, PSNC vice-chair, negotiating team member and an independent contractor.
Patel noted that despite some important wins such as recognition of key challenges faced by pharmacies, the commitment to consider these as part of our Year 4
negotiations, and agreement to take forward work on service fee and other regulatory changes, the PSNC is disappointed that the review did not lead to "immediate and tangible outcomes and improvements for contractors."
The negotiator had put forward data and analysis showing the capacity and cost constraints faced by pharmacies.
The Health and Social Care Select Committee (HSCC) on Tuesday held the first session in their pharmacy inquiry, with a panel of experts discussing the key
issues facing community pharmacies in the country.
Representatives from community pharmacy associations highlighted some of their biggest challenges and their vision for the future, as well as actions that
government and NHS England can take to address those challenges for a better future for the sector.
Opening the session, the Committee's vice-chair, Rachel Maskell MP, asked the representatives if they felt the government was ambitious enough in what it
believes community pharmacy can do to address NHS pressures, or are pharmacists being held back by issues around workforce funding, contracting, and technological
changes.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive, Company Chemists' Association (CCA), expressed that the government is not ambitious enough, saying "there's always opportunity
to be more ambitious".
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee announced last week that it is in discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS
England about relieving capacity pressures, such as a relaxation of pharmacy opening hours requirements.
PSNC is also scheduling webinars to talk with contactors about the steps they might be willing to take in future, to cut costs, should emergency financial relief
fail to materialise.
The pharmacy regulator reported that many of its members felt that it was no longer tenable for pharmacies to keep offering all of the free and non-core services to
patients that they would like to, and that all contractors should consider what steps they could take to try to safeguard their businesses and their core services
for patients.
PSNC is also keen to talk to contractors about their current situation and the steps they might be willing to take in future, should emergency relief not be
forthcoming.