A report commissioned by NHS England (NHSE) has stressed that funding for clinical services in community pharmacies is “insufficient”.
Carried out by independent, not-for-profit policy research organisation RAND Europe and published this week (July 14), the report said that “community pharmacies are under extreme financial pressures, influenced by historic levels of inflation”.
The report was commissioned in February last year to “conduct a qualitative evaluation of some clinical services provided in community pharmacies” under the five-year community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF) funding deal from 2019 to 2024.
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It found that pharmacy staff are “generally very motivated to perform CPCF clinical services to help people within the communities they serve and to make the most of their qualifications”.
But it added that “many…felt remuneration for these clinical services was insufficient and impacted their ability to deliver them”.
It highlighted that “integration” with other healthcare professionals remains an “ongoing challenge” and is influenced by “complicated referral pathways [and] competing incentive structures”.
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The report added that “issues with physical and digital infrastructure persist” as many healthcare professionals do not use the same clinical IT systems used in community pharmacies, meaning pharmacists “lack access to full medical records”.
“Limited awareness” about the services pharmacies offer also continues to pose a challenge, both among other healthcare professionals and the public, it said.
Despite these challenges, it found that community pharmacy patients are “motivated by the convenience and timeliness of clinical services offered...compared to other healthcare settings”.
“High levels of trust”
“Existing relationships and high levels of trust with pharmacy staff are also key drivers for service users to engage with these services,” the report said.
It highlighted that pharmacies are “well integrated into their local communities with staff speaking the languages of local residents, which helps to build levels of trust that are not observed with some other healthcare professionals”.
“If supported to deliver clinical services, pharmacies could play an important role in moving care to the community,” it stressed.
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It called for further commissioning of clinical services in community pharmacies to “consider the new economic landscape, the evolving professional role of pharmacists and the NHS 10-year health plan”.
The government revealed its 10-year plan for the NHS in England earlier this month, outlining that community pharmacies will “transition” from a focus on dispensing to “offering more clinical services” over the next five years.
It also set out plans for a possible pharmacy weight loss jab service, a new genomics service and pharmacy human papillomavirus (HPV) catch-up jabs, as well as new “neighbourhood health services” to be rolled out from September.
