NHS England: Pharmacy not exempt from £22bn efficiency drive
Scrutiny on cost makes it hard to justify funding multiple pharmacies per high street, says the commissioning body's deputy chief pharmaceutical officer Bruce Warner
Pharmacists will “feel the pain” of overstretched health funding for the “next few years”, NHS England’s deputy chief pharmaceutical officer has warned.
“No stone will be left unturned” in NHS England’s hunt for £22 billion in efficiency savings, and it would be “naive to think that pharmacy will be exempt from scrutiny”, Bruce Warner said in his speech at the Pharmacy Show last weekend (October 18).
NHS England spends “just under 10% of its total budget” on pharmacy and medicines in primary care, and that “is not going to be ignored” as the commissioning body looks to save money, he stressed.
Mr Warner echoed chief pharmaceutical officer Keith Ridge’s controversial statement last year that there are “too many community pharmacies”.
“Who can justify a single high street having multiple pharmacies all funded by the public purse? We need to build on the strengths of the best of those,” Mr Warner said in his speech.
NHS England would need to “focus on all sectors of pharmacy” to save money, and pharmacists should use the situation as “an opportunity to push forward and embrace change”, he said.
"I make no apologies for drawing analogies with the hospital sector, from which I believe community pharmacy has a lot to learn,” he added.
Hospitals are already using robotic dispensing and an “innovative skill mix to free up clinical staff to deliver direct care and medicines optimisation”, Mr Warner said. “If we are ever going to establish pharmacy’s rightful place at the centre of healthcare, then now is the time.”
What else did Bruce Warner say?Reforming education: “We have a pharmacy education system that is ripe for reform and ready to produce pharmacists with the skills that we need.” Praising practice pharmacists: “Clinical pharmacists in general practice are the epitome of an integrated care system – using the clinical skills of the pharmacist to look Recording clinical decisions: “It’s high time that pharmacy staff started to systematically record the clinical decisions they make, particularly if that activity is to become visible to other parts of the healthcare system. We are the only clinical profession that does not keep such notes.” Building on flu jabs: “Let’s not forget technicians. [They] should start to consider what CPD they need to undertake – either to equip themselves for roles that they aspire to, or for roles that do not yet exist, but may do in the future.” More national immunisation services: “We have a national pharmacy scheme for flu vaccinations. But why stop at flu? Surely pharmacies are well-placed to offer all sorts of immunisations, improve patient access and contribute towards freeing up precious GP appointments.” |
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