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In celebration of World Pharmacy Technician Day today, we have gathered some significant achievements from this year that highlight the growing recognition of pharmacy technicians as integral members of the pharmacy team. During the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) Conference in September, NHS England's Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, David Webb, announced 530 apprenticeships for community pharmacy pre-registration pharmacy technicians (PTPs) for the 2024/25 period. "This announcement shows a real investment in pharmacy technicians. It will impact all areas of practice, not just within community pharmacies," said Nicola Stockmann, APTUK President, in an exclusive interview with Pharmacy Business. In August, the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) was allocated funding to offer 80 NHS England-funded places in its Accuracy Checking Pharmacy Technician (ACPT) programme. This 3-12 month course is designed to help pharmacy technicians develop a range of competencies, ensuring they can deliver safe and effective patient care. Up to 10 NHSE-funded spots will be available each month on a first-come, first-served basis for pharmacy technicians working in community pharmacies, NHS hospitals, and health and justice settings. The funding will remain available until all 80 places are filled or until March 2025.

The NHS England has introduced a training programme for 1000 staff to broaden their community pharmacy roles, thereby improving patient access to services. Among them, 500 pharmacy staff will be trained to supervise pharmacists during prescription training, while the remaining 500 will provide support for various training, including pre and post-registration programmes for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. According to the NHSE, pharmacist and pharmacy technician roles are rapidly evolving due to healthcare changes and increased demand for clinical services in community pharmacy. "There are 3,000 independent prescribing training spots available for 2023/24. Educational supervision is a crucial part of this to enable the ongoing transformation and skills development of the growing pharmacy workforce." The NHSE-funded training, scheduled to begin next month, will ensure that those involved in educational supervision, including Designated Supervisors (DSs), Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician education supervisors and Designated Prescribing Practitioners (DPPs), can effectively support learners.

The Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) has rebranded to be known as Community Pharmacy to present a strengthened and unified identity to the local NHS, local government and other stakeholders, as the local voice of community pharmacy. "There are now 58 LPCs in England. The number of LPCs has reduced from 69, with further consolidation expected by April 2024 to a network of 48 local organisations," said Community Pharmacy England. "The changes mean there will be better alignment between LPCs and the 42 NHS Integrated Care Systems in England, who have taken on the responsibility for commissioning pharmaceutical services delegated by NHS England." "This marks a significant milestone, as similar to Community Pharmacy England, LPCs have been undergoing changes to respond to the Review Steering Group (RSG) recommendations on pharmacy representation. The sector voted in favour of the RSG proposals in the summer of 2022, and since then progress has been made on many of the changes at both local and national level as part of the Transforming Pharmacy Representation (TAPR) Programme."

A worrying rise in pharmacy closures across England is disproportionately affecting older people and rural communities, according to a new report by Healthwatch England. Findings obtained through Freedom of Information (FoI) requests have exposed the scale of the issue, with over 436 permanent pharmacy closures recorded in 2023 and more than 13,800 temporary closures resulting in nearly 47,000 hours lost. The report, published on Thursday, paints a bleak picture of access to vital healthcare services, particularly in rural areas where pharmacy closures have hit hardest. The report found that Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in rural areas recorded a higher level of temporary pharmacy closures compared to ICBs in predominantly urban areas. Additionally, ICBs with a higher proportion of people over 60 years of age recorded a higher number of hours lost per pharmacy. Healthwatch chief executive Louise Ansari expressed concern about the impact on elderly populations, noting that the closures were undermining the government's flagship Pharmacy First programme, designed to relieve pressure on GP practices by allowing patients to seek care for common conditions at local pharmacies.

Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), gave evidence to the UK's official COVID-19 Inquiry on Monday (4 November), highlighting the importance of building a "sustainable and resilient community pharmacy network" to enhance preparedness for future pandemics. Kaye also recommended utilising the existing community pharmacy infrastructure for public health initiatives, such as vaccination programmes, and stressed the need to recognise community pharmacists and their teams as integral members of primary care. "Seven pharmacies a week are closing across the four nations, and that is tragic for any future response. So, a resilient community pharmacy network that exists is going to be key," he told the Inquiry. He noted that 90 per cent of most NPA members' income comes from providing NHS services, underscoring the critical role pharmacies play in healthcare delivery. However, Kaye highlighted that pharmacies were often overlooked and underappreciated during the pandemic.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are set to receive up to £15.9 million over the next four years which will help them thrive in multidisciplinary healthcare teams and enable expansion of frontline staff in primary and community care. The funding, which is part of the Pharmacy Integration Programme allocation, will improve registered pharmacy professionals' skills, through a range of training and development opportunities. The programme is a part of education reform for pharmacy professionals and will allow them to identify career pathways. Health Education England and NHS England will work in partnership to develop "a formal portfolio recognition process to identify the existing skills, training and experience gained by pharmacists working in primary care, allowing them to work more flexibly and better support GP services", HEE said in a statement today (November 8).

The Health Education England (HEE) has secured funding to further support growth of the pharmacy technician workforce in 2022/23. This support is through expansion of pre-registration trainee pharmacy technician (PTPT) training capacity in community pharmacy or as part of a cross-sector integrated apprenticeship programme. HEE will be holding two 90-minute webinars on Monday 27 2022. There will be a morning webinar (10-11.30am) and an evening webinar (7-8.30pm) for attendees to choose from. Topics like- available funding; eligibility for funding; PTPT training programme requirements for employers; how to apply for this funding; and the support available from HEE for successful funding of applicants to develop their PTPT training programmes, will be covered during the webinars. HEE is also hosting another webinar to provide an update on the Independent Prescribing (IP) for pharmacists training offer that they are developing for Autumn 2022.

A recent analysis conducted by the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has revealed stark disparities in patient engagement with the Pharmacy First service across the country, likening the pattern to a 'patchwork quilt'. It indicated that patients in the highest-performing Integrated Care System (ICS) received seven times more Pharmacy First consultations than those in the lowest-performing regions. As of April 21, more than 3,000 CCA member pharmacies had delivered 126,484 Pharmacy First consultations since the programme's launch. However, the analysis found significant regional variations, with nearly 13,000 consultations completed in the North East and North Cumbria ICS, while only 948 were completed in Gloucestershire ICS. The CCA calculated that if every ICS had as many consultations as the highest-performing ICS, there would have been an additional 600,000 Pharmacy First consultations nationwide.

All 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have signed memorandums of understanding for the NHS Independent Prescribing Pathfinder programme, the first nationally-funded prescribing service in the country. Anne Joshua, interim deputy director of pharmacy commissioning at NHS England, made the revelation during the 'Chief pharmaceutical officer bi-monthly webinar' held on 7 March 2024, as reported by The Pharmaceutical Journal. In the initial phase of the programme, 210 community pharmacies across all ICBs will trial independent prescribing, ahead of establishing a commissioning framework for the service. Giving an update on the pathfinder programme, Joshua confirmed that 164 of these potential pathfinder sites had registered for the programme as of 29 February 2024. Additionally, she announced the clinical models to be followed by the participating pharmacies and presented a graph showing an overview of the services they will provide.

Positive Solutions is set to launch its new, innovative, cloud-based medicines management system - HxCare which will be showcased in October at the Care Show. HxCare will be free of charge to community pharmacies signing up to the HxCare Affiliate Programme (HxCAP) making it an ideal platform to support existing care home business and attract new ones. The cloud-based medicines management system aims to digitise workflows, reduce errors and free up care providers to spend more time delivering care to their residents. Designed to be truly mobile, HxCare will be tablet based and has been developed by working closely with both care homes across the sector and their pharmacy partners who relish the prospect of an eMAR solution that integrates into their Analyst PMR. It is one of five new products being launched by Positive Solutions on the Hx platform this year. HxConsult is already live supporting pharmacies looking to maximise their service revenue. HxIntel will deliver real-time dashboards, reports and insights into the performance of pharmacy businesses of all sizes. My Health Hub will revolutionise patient pharmacy relationships whilst HxDispense is set to be the ultimate next generation PMR system. This modular, cloud-based interoperable ecosystem takes healthcare technology to a new level.

NHS England and NHS Improvement published on May 26 the findings of the Fuller 'stocktake' - setting out how primary care can work with partners across health and care to best meet the needs of their local communities. Dr Claire Fuller's report lays emphasis on the essential role of primary care and the potential of integrated neighbourhood teams in reducing the burden of ill health and tackling health inequities. It commends community pharmacy for keeping "its doors open to the public throughout" the pandemic whilst being "among the most recognisable of a multitude of dedicated staff delivering care around the clock in every neighbourhood in the country". The report highlights "recruitment and retention challenges across the wider primary care workforce" including in community pharmacy. Stressing the importance of community pharmacy teams in urgent care and prevention, including early diagnosis of cancers, the report points out that pharmacists could play "a more active role in signposting eligible people to screening and supporting early diagnosis, building on a number of successful pilots such as those from the Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme".

Community pharmacists involved in the Independent Prescribers Pathfinder Programme will be able to generate NHS prescriptions through the NHS Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). NHS England has secured a new clinical system, CLEO SOLO from Cleo Systems, to facilitate this service. The system is being rolled out to 'pathfinder' sites so they can start delivering their proposed prescribing models and pathways. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) across England have been informed of this development and are asked to provide support and leadership to their sites throughout the programme, which will run until March 2025. NHS England will also conduct a series of webinars with ICBs to discuss the CLEO SOLO rollout. David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at NHS England, highlighted that the Pathfinder Programme will enable community pharmacist prescribers at 'pathfinder' sites to issue NHS prescriptions for conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. "This will help us develop a framework which will support the commissioning of independent prescribing as part of clinical services in community pharmacy in the future," Webb said.

A new NHS-funded training course on clinical examination skills has been announced by Health Education England (HEE) for 10,000 community pharmacists. The training will be provided by CliniSkills and be coordinated by HEE with the Pharmacy Integration Programme at NHS England. With pre-registration now open to all community pharmacists, the programme will be available from 17th April 2023 and will until March 2024. It will be delivered online, with optional face-to-face attendance for pharmacists who would find this beneficial. Pharmacists will be required to complete a module on history taking and identification of serious conditions and can then choose from four optional modules, which cover the following themes: dermatology; cardiology; paediatrics; and ear, nose and throat. The training is designed to be complementary to the independent prescribing training and can be completed prior to or after an independent prescribing training course. It is open to all community pharmacists including those that work part time and locums.

Several pharmacies have joined the inhaler recycling scheme in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, to support NHS England's Greener NHS programme, which aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. It is part of a collaborative working initiative between the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and AstraZeneca UK Ltd, supported by the Black Country Integrated Care Board and Wolverhampton City Local Pharmaceutical Committee. Under this scheme, old and used inhalers are recycled and transformed into new products, such as coat hangers and waste bins. Simon Evans, group chief strategy officer for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, emphasised the importance of prioritising the reduction of carbon footprint while maintaining high-quality care, to protect the planet for future generations. "The Trust has already made significant achievements in several areas including the physical estate, clinical services, waste recycling, catering and medicines - with this inhaler recycling scheme from pharmacy being the latest string to our bow," he said.

Dr Amanda Doyle has been appointed as NHS England as director of primary and community care. Prior to her new role, Amanda had joined NHS England and NHS Improvement as North West Regional Director on 2 August 2021 and previously she was the Chief Clinical Officer for West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Blackpool CCG and Fylde and Wyre CCG. Amanda was also the Integrated Care System Lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria, leading a large health and care transformation programme across the patch. She has been a GP for more than 20 years, practising in a large practice in a deprived area of Blackpool, which, in addition to primary medical services, provides a range of urgent care services for patients across the Fylde Coast. Amanda was the Co-Chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners from 2013 to 2018. She was Senior Responsible Officer for the primary care component of the Long Term Plan and was involved in the leadership of the health inequalities, prevention and personalisation elements.

After struggling with COVID, Hemant Petal is back to good health, and now he is on a mission to reduce "health inequalities". Speaking at the SIGMA Conference 2023, he spoke about his new role as Clinical Lead, Health Inequalities and Population Health Management, SE Essex Alliance, Essex ICB. "So, my new role is outside pharmacy, nothing to do with pharmacy. But it is important, I feel that I share some of my insights about the work that I'm doing that might benefit you," he said. Elaborating on the role of integrated care boards (ICBs), he said that they are designed to enhance coordination and collaboration across different healthcare providers and settings. The representatives from hospitals, community services, retail and social care meet on a monthly basis to "look at where there are issues to be resolved, perhaps what can be done to improve the healthcare services."