A performers list for pharmacy could offer an “additional mechanism other than a fitness-to-practise (FtP) referral”, the Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) has told MPs.
In its July 9 evidence to the new Health Bill moving through the House of Commons, the RCPharm said there is “an emerging debate about whether pharmaceutical services should also have a performers list” as pharmacists offer “an increasingly clinical role in primary care”.
Currently, GPs, optometrists and dentists working in an NHS setting must be registered on the performers list for England to show that they “satisfy a range of criteria necessary for working in the NHS”.
Read more: GPhC told to speed up processing FTP cases in latest annual report
Introducing a performers list for pharmacy could be an approach to “assuring health professionals are qualified and competent to provide safe and effective care”, the RCPharm said.
“This could also provide an additional mechanism other than a fitness-to-practise referral to the regulator,” it added.
Read more: Govt proposes reform of pharmacy provision and appeals processes
FtP cases are currently handled by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), which was last year told it had not met its required standard on the “timeliness of fitness-to-practise investigations” since 2018/19.
The GPhC also revealed in May that it is now receiving more than 9,500 FtP concerns in a year.
The GPhC declined to comment on the performers list as an alternative to FtP referrals.
Read more: Misuse SPR and face the consequences, warns DH
The RCPharm said in its evidence that exploring a performers list for pharmacy would “first require meaningful engagement” with the sector and stakeholders - and “must be seen as supporting health professionals to meet a standard” rather than “simply another performance management tool”.
It also asked MPs to consider:
- ensuring sufficient resources for implementation
- adequate provision of support for health professionals to meet required standards, in line with other professions
- the potential impact on pharmacists’ capacity to work across different care settings
- alignment with existing approaches to assurance, including RCPharm credentialling
A Department of Health and Social Care representative told C+D that it “will continue to review the performers list regulations to ensure they operate effectively and will work closely with RCPharm as we build a health service fit for the future”.
Prescriptions and SPR
Elsewhere in its submission to MPs, the RCPharm reiterated longtime calls to abolish prescription charges in England, which are described as an “avoidable inequality and barrier to patient care”.
It said the prescription charges system is “confusing for patients”, “risks people not taking their medicines” and “takes time away from health professionals who want to focus on patient care”.
The college also called for “strong pharmacy leadership” to be “retained and visible” as the bill proposes integrated care boards (ICBs) taking on new responsibilities, and asked for clarity on how commissioning, service development and medicines optimisation will be supported.
Read more: ‘Gamechanger’: Govt formally introduces Single Patient Record
With NHS England set to be abolished under the Health Bill, the RCPharm said key policies, including managing medicines shortages and utilising pharmacists’ prescribing skills, should continue to be “shaped by appropriate pharmacy expertise”.
It said pharmacists should have “full access” to the Single Patient Record (SPR) “from the outset”, and raised concerns about how “impartial, independent analysis” will continue following the abolition of Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch.
And as pharmacists deliver more clinical care, the RCPharm said their growing role should be “matched by sufficient clinical supervision and training capacity”, including better access to designated prescribing practitioners.
Read more: C+D Snapshot: Is it time to remove script charges in England?
It comes after a DH official warned that healthcare professionals who misuse the SPR will face serious consequences.
And it follows the DH proposing amendments to the Health Bill that will give ICBs more power to act over “inadequate” pharmacy services and see NHS Resolution become the single authority for pharmacy-related appeals.
