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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has announced that the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, David Webb will be among the keynote speakers at the Pharmacy Odyssey Conference on 13 October. He and other special guests will discuss the future of community pharmacy within the NHS, during a day of insight and practical advice for pharmacy teams. The NPA promises expert opinion on the current pressures in the sector and a thorough exploration of the long-term picture. NPA Director of Membership, Simon Tebbutt, explains: "With the NPA centenary in 2021 behind us, this will be a foray into the future - mapping the coming decade, and next half-century - as well as covering the many challenges of the present time." The theme of the conference, to be held online and sponsored by Novo Nordisk, is Pharmacy Odyssey: Services, Supply and Sustainability.

David Webb, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, acknowledged that the "pressure in the system is high", but urged everyone to "keep our eye on the design" of the NHS plan, adding that the "the objective is to bring the different parts of primary care together" in the patient interest. Speaking during the opening keynote session at the the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) conference held on Thursday (13 October), he added that the NHS plan intends to bring different parts of primary care together to help patients. He said the new integrated care boards (ICBs) are a key strategic framework as they provide the "potential to form partnerships to deliver integrated services across larger populations". "ICBs will want to work with Local Pharmaceutical Committees to plan for the local population and the new community pharmacy clinical leads in ICBs, who have been funded by NHS England, are there to advise." He explained that once an ICB takes over the commissioning of pharmaceutical services (which they are all due to do by April 2023), it could use its funds to commission a local enhanced service as an add on to an advanced service. For instance, a CVD risk assessment could be added to the blood pressure check service.

It's time for pharmacists to get their technology forecasting hats on and be selective in choosing digital technologies, commented Prof James Woudhuysen, of London South Bank University, at the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) Conference, Pharmacy Odyssey, held on Thursday (13 October). In a session on 'Healthcare in tomorrow's digital environment', hosted by Fergus Walsh, Prof Woudhuysen opined that digitisation has its merit, but it's quite tricky, and slower than we imagine. "Mechanisation has a digital component that we can look to as a way out of the gloom of the moment. And in dispensing, labelling, prescribing, and many other features of the conventional retail pharmacist, there's a lot that could be done for productivity and automation," he said. Replying to a question on 'where are we at the digital front now and where can it go', Woudhuysen replied: "It's taken 20 years for the electronic prescription. It was Tony Blair, who wanted every prescription electronic. The mishaps on repeat prescriptions and all the rest of it are still quite intense. So, we need to remember that electronics is only as clever as software and then human input into it. There're still many mistakes.