GP practices “can choose” whether they turn on GP Connect “and we need to respect that”, NHSE head of product Charis Stacey told delegates at the Pharmacy Show in Birmingham this month (October 13).
Meanwhile, the pharmacy minister yesterday (October 24) said that almost three-quarters of GP practices made “at least one” Pharmacy First referral in August.
Stacey’s comment came after a conference attendee asked what NHSE officials are doing to address the impact of ongoing British Medical Association (BMA) collective action.
Read more: GPs switch off update patient record function in new Pharmacy First IT twist
Under the protest action, some GP surgeries have switched off the “update record” function of GP Connect that allows pharmacies to send routine consultation information to their patients’ GP practices.
A BMA spokesperson told C+D in July that thousands of GPs had already turned off the software under the union’s instructions, leaving pharmacists to manually add Pharmacy First consultation information to patient records via email.
“We know that most GP practices have turned off update record, so I’m really keen to understand what’s happening centrally to support locally [and] try and address this challenge,” the Pharmacy Show delegate asked.
Read more: GPs need to ‘feel confident’ about Pharmacy First referrals, says BMA
“We have talked to some practice managers [and] been working through where and how we can help them test [the software],” Stacey said.
“It’s then about being able to demonstrate the added value that this can bring to reduce burden in practices,” she added.
But “ultimately…the practices can choose and we need to respect that,” she said.
“Quite disgruntled”
Meanwhile, other sector leaders at the Pharmacy Show slammed GP surgeries for not engaging with Pharmacy First.
“I feel quite disgruntled that we may have been used as a bargaining chip for the GPs’ collective action and that they’re not actually playing ball in some areas,” CPE chief executive Janet Morrison told delegates on the second day of the conference (October 14).
“It’s clear that in some areas, GPs aren’t really making any effort to engage with Pharmacy First,” she added.
Read more: Pharmacies cannot be ‘shock-absorbers’ for GP protest action, NPA warns
“We’ve said to NHSE, you need to push, push, push on this,” she said.
When asked by a delegate whether there was “an appetite from NHSE to get more GP referrals to Pharmacy First”, Morrison answered: “How can I speculate?”
“NHSE might say one thing and other parts of the NHS system might say another thing,” she said.
“We’ve talked to GPs about pushing on this and NHSE is making the noises that it is trying,” Morrison added.
“Penalise doctors”
Sam Patel, one of three Day Lewis executive directors, also raised concerns about GP inaction on the first day of the Pharmacy Show.
When asked what his “ideal” pharmacy contract would look like, Patel said he would “like to see a contract that encourages or penalises - either way - doctors from not engaging with their side of the bargain”.
Read more: UPDATED: Pharmacy First thresholds slashed until March
“You need to see doctors actually officially doing Pharmacy First properly…making sure that they’re engaging with their local pharmacy contract,” he added.
He stressed that “rather than having general practice holding onto things”, commissioners should “ensure that the rest of the contracts are being well served by pharmacy”.
“Bulk” of GPs not referring
Meanwhile, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock yesterday revealed that “approximately 71% of general practices in England made at least one referral into the Pharmacy First service” in August.
He made the comment after Conservative MP for South West Devon Rebecca Smith asked what steps he is “taking to help increase referrals from GP surgeries to community pharmacies under the Pharmacy First service”.
Kinnock said that “to help increase uptake, NHSE is working closely with the integrated care boards (ICBs), GP stakeholders and the community pharmacy sector to improve referral pathways”.
Read more: Pharmacy First: GP referral tech to reduce ‘informal signposting’ launched
“Funding has been provided to ICBs to recruit primary care network (PCN) engagement leads who will be well placed to support GP teams to refer into the service,” he added.
But during a Pharmacy Show presentation on Pharmacy First data, Company Chemists Association (CCA) head of policy Nick Thayer said that “GP referrals are really not helping [with] Pharmacy First”.
He revealed that among CCA members, “fewer than 10% of consultations come from GP referrals - and not only that, not all GPs are created equal”.
“Some GPs are referring hundreds a month [but] the bulk of them are referring almost none,” he said.
Read more: BMA: GPs not ‘reluctant’ to engage but Pharmacy First rolled out ‘too quickly’
He added that against the backdrop of “stretching” Pharmacy First consultation targets, which pharmacies must complete to qualify for a monthly payments, “it is a bit of a challenge”.
Also at the Pharmacy Show, NHSE announced that “following representations from CPE” it had “revised downward the minimum activity requirements” for the Pharmacy First service “for the remainder of 2024/25″.
“While not as large a reduction in the thresholds as we wanted, these changes at least indicate ministers are taking a much more pragmatic approach to Pharmacy First payment thresholds,” CPE’s Morrison said at the time.
