The Royal Pharmaceutical Service (RPS) has pledged to champion the role of pharmacists within the NHS by establishing an independent commission to explore how the sector can best deliver care to patients, it announced last week (April 17).

The commission, chaired by the Nuffield Trust's policy director Judith Smith, is giving pharmacists, patient groups and other healthcare professionals six weeks to submit examples of innovative models of care within the UK and abroad.

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	Pharmacists are being urged to complete a questionnaire describing the aims of the services, what was impressive about them, and what benefits they offered to patients and the wider healthcare system. They can also describe what they think is hindering the development of new models of care across the sector.

The commission's report will be published in the autumn and will suggest how policy makers, commissioners and pharmacists can put these models into practice.

The time was right for pharmacy to "step up to the plate" and use different networks to get people to listen, Ms Smith said.

"We want to identify the examples of innovative practice, whether that's in England, the rest of the UK or overseas. We want to understand what has enabled those examples to be put in place or what has got in the way," she said.

RPS chief executive Helen Gordon said the appointment of an independent chair ensured the commission would not just involve "pharmacy talking to pharmacy", but would encourage different sectors of healthcare to engage and look at pharmacy "from all perspectives".

The finished document would serve "a variety of audiences", including commissioners, she told C+D.

Diabetes UK director of health intelligence and professional liaison Simon O'Neill said the NHS was "really rubbish" at sharing best practice and the commission was an opportunity for pharmacists to make a case to commissioners about the services they could offer.

RPS members can submit their suggestions to the commission by filling out the questionnaire on the RPS website.

What examples of innovative services are you aware of and, if you've had to overcome barriers to delivery, what have they been? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook