People will get a lot more health services from their high street pharmacist from today announced UK Health Secretary John Reid. Thanks to a new contractual framework for community pharmacy patients will benefit from better services such as repeat dispensing and more accessibility to frontline healthcare services, like blood pressure tests, on the high street.
(I-Newswire) - The new Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework will see pharmacists:
-- provide repeat dispensing
-- offer advice to improve public health such as healthy eating, stopping smoking and regular exercise
-- dispose of unwanted medicines
-- provide medicine use reviews for those with long-term conditions
The new contract was overwhelmingly supported by pharmacies with 92 per cent who voted in favour of the deal. It is an important step forward in modernising pharmacy services and making better use of the skills and expertise of pharmacists and their staff, in turn giving the public more services and easier access to health improvement advice and services. It will ensure pharmacies of all sizes can use their expertise to expand their range of services and are rewarded for offering more public health services, not just for dispensing prescriptions.
Pharmacists will also take on a greater public health role under the contract and through the strategy Choosing Health Through Pharmacy, our programme for pharmaceutical public health, which sets out how pharmacy staff can work closely with public health teams to concentrate on people or communities with particular health needs. Choosing Health Through Pharmacy builds on the public health principles set out in the White Paper and shows the important role pharmacists can play in supporting people in improving their health.
John Reid said;
"Under the new contract you won't have to go back to your doctor every time you need to renew your prescription. Instead, your doctor can give you a prescription lasting up to a year and your pharmacist can dispense your medicines as and when you need them. When you take your prescription in, you will have the chance to talk to your pharmacist about how you have been getting on with your medicine and how you are feeling in general.
"Your pharmacist can also give you clinical and lifestyle advice on how to become healthier. This includes advice and information on how to stop smoking, reducing high blood pressure, lose weight and improve your diet. This will help to proactively tackle national diseases such as obesity, coronary heart disease and cancer with pharmacies taking part in local and national health promotion campaigns.
"Local pharmacists will also be able to advise you on which over the counter medicines are best for self-limiting conditions as well as give help on other things you could do to help you feel better, they will also give you advice on how to maintain and improve your health. You can now also take your old unwanted medicine to your pharmacist to dispose of safely."
Sue Sharpe, Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, who negotiated the contract on behalf of pharmacists, said;
"The NHS is recognising the important role that the 10,000 community pharmacies in England can play in opening up greater access for the public to a range of new health services.
"These will use the untapped skills of pharmacists and give people greater choice and convenience. We believe that the use of community pharmacies for services such as health promotion, support for self-care and advice on managing long-term conditions will deliver substantial benefits, not only to patients, but to the NHS as a whole."
President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Mr Nicholas Wood, said of pharmacists' role in improving public health:
"Pharmacists are experts in medicines and their use and have the skills to help people choose healthier lifestyles, stay well and get the best out of any treatment that they need. The new NHS community pharmacy contract opens the door to a wide range of new services available from local pharmacies to meet the real needs of patients. "Pharmacists are already making a significant contribution to improving public health. Pharmacies are accessible and are used by people with particular health needs such as older people, mothers of young children and those struggling on low incomes. We know that pharmacists can play an even greater role in supporting public health in the future and welcome the new strategy for England Choosing Health Through Pharmacy."
Bharat Patel, a community pharmacist in Essex, said:
"For many years pharmacists like myself have been offering a wide range of services to the public including advice on public health - the contract will ensure all pharmacies provide these services. Pharmacies are accessible and it is very encouraging that our skills are finally being tapped into. I look forward to becoming more integral in NHS primary care."
Guidance on creating new consultant pharmacist posts in hospitals and primary care trusts is also launched today. Consultant Pharmacists will play key roles in ensuring patients receive the highest levels of care and in developing tomorrow's pharmacists.
Nine out of ten pharmacists who voted are in favour of the new contract allowing community pharmacists to offer more services, advice and help which will improve overall community health, tackle key areas of disease, and most importantly, increase accessibility to getting NHS healthcare.
Pharmacists have previously been a huge untapped resource for improving the public's health. The track record of community pharmacists in areas such as stopping smoking, sexual health advice and substance misuse is evidence enough of how integral they are to supporting public health improvement.
With 1.8 million visits to pharmacies every day, pharmacists really do bring the NHS to the high street. According to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain each adult visits a pharmacy on average 12 times a year so the potential to influence the health of the nation is enormous. Through the new contract and our strategy to capitalise on the skills and their location to bring advice improving public health to the heart of communities.
The new community pharmacy contractual framework comes into effect 1 April 2005, and pharmacies have until 1 October 2005 to ensure they provide the essential range of services under the contractual framework.
Choosing Health Through Pharmacy is launched today. The strategy outlines the key role pharmacists can play in improving and promoting better health. It is available on http://www.dh.gov.uk/publications
Guidance for the Development of Consultant Pharmacists Posts is launched today. It is best practice guidance to support the introduction of the role of Consultant Pharmacist. It is available on http://www.dh.gov.uk/publications
Each adult visits a pharmacy on average 12 times a year.
There are 1.8 million visits to pharmacies every day for prescriptions, buying medicines and health advice. Of these, 260,000 visits each day are specifically for health advice.
92.3% of community pharmacists in England ( on a 73.8% turnout ) voted in favour of the new contract in a ballot in November 2004.
There were 9,759 pharmacies providing NHS services in England as at 31 March 2004.
The new community pharmacy contractual framework:
There will be three tiers of services - nationally agreed essential services such as repeat dispensing, which all pharmacies will in due course provide, and advice on healthy living and advanced services, which depend on the accreditation of the pharmacist and/or the premises. In addition, primary care trusts will be able to commission local enhanced services to meet community health needs of their local population.
Essential Services: these services will be offered by all community pharmacists in addition to dispensing NHS prescriptions.
1. Repeat Dispensing: Leading to improved patient choice, convenience and clinical care; helping to provide more support in the community for people with long-term conditions ; improving patient safety through helping to ensure medicines are taken correctly
- You won't have to go back to your doctor every time you need to renew your prescription. Instead, your doctor can give you a prescription lasting up to a year and your pharmacist can dispense your medicines as and when you need them.
- When you take your prescription in, you will have the chance to talk to your pharmacist about how you have been getting on with your medicine and how you are feeling in general.
- If you have been having any problems with your medication, your pharmacist can refer you to your GP for a review of what you are taking
2. Public Health Advice
Reducing health inequalities and improving health
- Your pharmacist can give you clinical and lifestyle advice on how to become healthier. This includes advice and information on how to stop smoking, reducing high blood pressure, lose weight and improve your diet
- This will help to proactively tackle national diseases such as obesity, coronary heart disease and cancer
- Pharmacies will be taking part in local and national health promotion campaigns
3. Signposting
Helping to identify other health providers who can assist and ensure correct onward referral
- If you have a health problem and are not sure where you should go to get advice or treatment, your pharmacist can help put you in touch with the appropriate service.
4. Self Care
Giving people the tools to help improve their own health; and care for themselves
- Your pharmacist will be able to advise you on which over the counter medicines are best for self-limiting conditions as well as give help on other things you could do to help you feel better.
- You will be given advice on how to maintain and improve your health
5. Medicines Disposal
To reduce harm to people and the environment by enabling safe disposal of waste and unwanted medicines
- You can take your old unwanted medicine to your pharmacist to dispose of safely
Advanced Services:
all pharmacies can provide these if they want, but both the pharmacist and their premises need to be accredited
Providing more support in the community for people with long-term conditions ;
helping patients get the best from their medicines and improving patient safety through advice on taking medicines correctly
- Some pharmacists will be able, over the course of the next year, to offer Medicines Use Review for people who have long-term conditions ( which includes conditions such as diabetes, coronary heart problems and asthma ). The review will look at how you have been getting on with your medication and whether any changes are needed.
- Pharmacists who offer this service will have a designated consultation area which will allow for private discussion.
- The Medicines Use Review will help to improve support for people who have long-term conditions by spotting and resolving problems with medication at an early stage, so helping to reduce hospital admissions.
Enhanced services: commissioned locally by PCTs, to meet community health needs
Widening access to care, helping to tackle public health problems; responding to specific local health needs
- Local Primary Care Trusts, who are in charge of locally funding health services locally, will commission pharmacists to offer extra services in areas where they are most needed. Types of services to be commissioned include:
- Stop Smoking services
- Minor Ailments Scheme ( where people exempt from prescription charges can obtain medicines, for a certain range of common conditions from their pharmacist on the NHS without going to their GP for a prescription )
- Contraception, including emergency hormonal contraceptive, services
- Anticoagulant ( anti blood-clotting ) Monitoring
- Clinics for people with long-term conditions like diabetes
- Needle and Syringe Exchange clinic for drug misusers
- Stop Smoking services
- Supervised Administration of Prescribed Medication
Control of Entry
Making it easier for new pharmacies to locate in new areas to provide NHS services, including the establishment of wholly mail order and internet pharmacies.
other measures being introduced from 1 April include reforms to the regulatory system, known as 'Control of Entry' which governs whether pharmacies can provide NHS services locally.
These reforms will mean:
- Pharmacists will be able to open longer, including out of hours services where they undertake to open for at least 100 hours per week
- It will be easier for new pharmacies to locate in new areas to provide NHS services, for example in large shopping developments away from town centres, making it easier to access health services
- Your NHS Primary Care Trust will have the continuing responsibility to ensure there is adequate provision of pharmaceutical care within communities
The new funding arrangements
Following a joint cost inquiry the PSNC and DH agreed funding arrangements. These take into account various funding streams including existing funding from central government and an extra £100m to support repeat dispensing where pharmacists are taking on extra responsibilities. The total funding available in 2005/06 is £1.766bn for England
New prices for generic drugs will be published prior to 1 April. PCTs will be charged monthly by the Prescription Pricing Authority ( PPA ) for the payments PCTs are contributing to ( essentially the practice payment and other elements ). PCTs will need to set aside sufficient funding to meet these charges, including assessing the anticipated savings in the primary care prescribing expenditure.
For further enquiries, please contact Anna Brosnan at the Department of Health media centre on 020 7210 4984.
For all other enquiries, please contact the Department of Health public enquiry line 020 7210 4850.
GNNREF: 113777 Issued by : DOH Press Office
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