NHS England has urged pharmacists to contribute to a "vision document" on how the health service can meet the changing needs of patients.

The NHS Five Year Forward View, announced last week (August 15), would be the "beginning of a conversation" about how the healthcare system should change, the commissioning body told C+D.

Pharmacists could email NHS England with ideas about how the sector can improve patient care and empower the public to look after their own health, the commissioner told C+D yesterday (August 19).

NHS England would also contact pharmacy stakeholders to help shape the document and will draw on the sector's response to the Call to Action consultation, it said. NHS England could not say which pharmacy organisations it would contact before the document is published in the autumn.

The document would set out the "challenges and choices" the health service faces, suggest ways that national policies can improve local healthcare decisions, and analyse how different professions can share responsibility across the health service, it said.

An NHS England spokesperson said the document would cover the whole healthcare system and was separate to its forthcoming primary care strategy, although he could not say if the two would overlap.

NHS England would use existing evidence to inform the document "in the majority of areas", rather than commissioning new research, it said on its website.

NHS England's overall strategy for primary care, which will also be based on the Call to Action responses from pharmacists, GPs, dentists and optometrists, is expected in the autumn.

In April, the commissioning body said it was "overwhelmed" by more than 800 responses to its Call to Action consultation for pharmacy, which closed in March.

Pharmacists can email their comments on the NHS Five Year Forward View to  [email protected]. 

	What ideas would you contribute to the NHS's vision document?