EXCLUSIVE

Brighton GP practices have employed three pharmacists to build on a pilot project aimed at increasing access to primary care services.

The government-funded project in Brighton and Hove – which launched last September and will run until this November – was set up to expand weekday access to primary care between 8am and 8pm. As part of the scheme, patients who ring one of 16 GP surgeries with a range of common conditions are referred to community pharmacy clinics.

These clinics had a "disappointing" uptake in the first eight months of the scheme, with just 300 patients attending them, according to the project's clinical lead Paul Deffley. Three GP clusters in the area have responded by permanently employing three “proactive care pharmacists” who can improve relationships between the professions, Dr Deffley told C+D last week (August 26).

These pharmacists will “provide a link” between GPs and community pharmacists, and arrange “educational events” to help GPs understand the sector's capabilities, Dr Deffley said.

Two of the pharmacists have a background in community pharmacy while one is from the hospital sector, Mr Deffley said. They will focus on managing the medication of “at-risk” patients, including those with “complex polypharmacy, substance misuse, or renal problems”, he added.

Brighton and Hove clinical commissioning group (CCG) told C+D the pharmacists will be paid between £39,600 and £47,500 a year from the government's Better Care Fund. It hopes GPs in the area will recruit more pharmacists if the inititiave is successful, the CCG added.

Medical records access

As part of the ongoing primary care access pilot – supported by the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund – 25 pharmacies in the Brighton and Hove area have read-only access to patient's medical records. This "significantly enhances" their potential to work with GPs, Dr Deffley said.

More than 90% of patents with a common condition who were referred to one of these pharmacies by GPs during the first eight months of the scheme had been “completely managed” by the pharmacy's team without the need for further referral, he told C+D.

GPs taking part in the pilot are also using prescribing pharmacists to run “very successful” clinics on common conditions, he said. But the lack of awareness among GPs about what community pharmacists can offer is a "barrier" to further improving the initiative, he said.

“The relationships between community pharmacy and general practice need to be strengthened. We’re hoping [the three practice pharmacists will] really expand the potential role for community pharmacy in Brigton and Hove,” he added.
 

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