Pharmacy will struggle to develop its role in public health unless the government commits to national services, C+D Senators have warned.

Industry leaders slammed complex commissioning arrangements as an "impediment" to pharmacy services and stressed that public health could not be improved "piecemeal" at the C+D Senate earlier this month (November 6).

They urged the government to back pharmacy's role in public health with national funding rather than abdicating responsibility to local commissioners.

Claire Hiscott, Conservative councillor and pharmacist, said the public should expect the same core public health services across the country. "Once you have a national structure where all our enhanced services are across the board, then we can deliver across the board," she told the Senate. "There's no point doing this piecemeal."

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	Ms Hiscott praised the public health work done in Portsmouth, where the healthy living pharmacy model (HLP) was developed – but urged the government to encourage this on a national scale. "Portsmouth is great but not everywhere is Portsmouth," she stressed. "It's got to be national."

Mike Keen, chair of Pharmacy London, echoed the calls. National commissioning would put an end to variable service provision and communicate a consistent message to the public, he argued.

But at a time of NHS funding constraints, the government may be unwilling to invest, he conceded. "There's no doubt we need a national approach, but that brings in a lot of questions," he warned. "If you are to achieve a national approach, it will require upfront investment."

Richard Parish, chair of the pharmacy and public health forum, said he would back an end to complex commissioning arrangements.

"Commissioning is not always the driver for change but it also shouldn't be an impediment," argued Mr Parish, who is also non-executive director of the Public Health England advisory board. "So my personal view is there should be a review of commissioning arrangements – anything that's regarded as core should be considered nationally."

HLP pathfinder programme lead Deborah Evans said she would also push for more consistent commissioning. The "redundant" pharmacy contract was holding the profession back, she stressed, and failing to offer enough incentives for providing services. "Until that's resolved, we won't have the results we could do in community pharmacy," Ms Evans warned.

Look out for full coverage of the C+D Senate in this week's issue of C+D, out on Saturday (November 23), and online.