EXCLUSIVE

NHS England is considering Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) proposals to financially incentivise pharmacists to work in GP practices, C+D has learned.

Although the commissioning body had not decided on the amount or timeframe for any potential funding, NHS England deputy chief executive Bruce Warner said it was “actively looking at” the possibility.

In March, the RPS and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) called for an “army” of pharmacists to be employed in GP practices. The organisations believed this required NHS England to provide funding to “kick start” the process “at scale”, Mr Warner told C+D in an exclusive interview on Wednesday (May 20).

The RPS and the RCGP had proposed incentives to encourage pharmacists to work in practices and NHS England was “looking to see" whether these plans "fit the need” of the sector, Mr Warner said.

“GPs are under tremendous pressure at the moment and anything pharmacists can do to relieve the pressure is an incentive in its own right,” he said.

Many pharmacists were already working in GP practices and NHS England “needed to build on” this, Mr Warner stressed. “Whatever NHS England can do will be part of something much larger that has been established across the country for many years,” he stressed.

The RPS and the RCGP wanted the “pace and scale” of pharmacists’ involvement in GP practices to be increased, and this was a “unique opportunity” to create a “recognised career path” for them, Mr Warner said.

The RPS declined to provide details of the funding model it had proposed to NHS England.
 

Prescribing role

Mr Warner said the commissioning body wanted pharmacists to “play a more clinical, patient-facing role” and this would “inevitably” involve them become prescribers. 

“If we can develop this as a career pathway then part of that development may well be getting more pharmacists becoming independent prescribers in their own right,” he added.

In March, the RPS and the RCGP reassured the sector that pharmacists employed in GP practices would remain "autonomous", in response to concerns from C+D readers that the plans could put GPs “in full control” of primary healthcare. 

How much should NHS England pay to incentivise pharmacists?

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