Scottish primary care experts have backed locating pharmacists in GP practices to encourage closer collaboration between the two professions.

Alan McDevitt, chair of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said his organisation was “very keen” to "embed" pharmacists in GP practices. This would result in a “powerful relationship” between the two groups and the “greatest benefit for patients”, Dr McDevitt told C+D at a primary care conference in Edinburgh last week (January 21).

GPs had already developed good relations with pharmacists based in their practices, but it was harder to collaborate with those on the high street, he stressed. Dr McDevitt said he was “disappointed” by the performance of the chronic medication service - set up in 2010 to encourage joint working between GPs and pharmacists - and there was still "a lot more work to be done" to achieve this aim.

Dr McDevitt said he supported the principle behind the Scottish government’s 10-year vision for all pharmacists to become independent prescribers by 2023, if it would help GPs cope with the “huge amount of work” they were expected to do. “We are open to every suggestion about how patients’ needs can be met by all professional groups,” he added.

Miles Mack, chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) Scotland told the conference that locating pharmacists within GP practices could “work brilliantly”, while David Thompson, deputy director of primary care for the Scottish government, told C+D that pharmacists should work “in or with surgeries” to reduce pressure on GPs.
 

'Positive comments' about pharmacy

Brian Robson, executive clinical director of NHS organisation Healthcare Improvement Scotland, told C+D he had heard “many positive comments" at the conference about the role of pharmacists.

“Pharmacists are already playing a key role in patient care within GP surgeries, not least in polypharmacy and [delivering] clinical reviews," Dr Robson said.

Community Pharmacy Scotland pharmacy services manager Matt Barclay said he would like to see the pharmacy and GP contracts amended to “formalise” collaboration between the two professions. This would not necessarily require pharmacists to relocate to GP practices, he said.

“We would like GPs to adapt and share appropriate work with us and we need to adapt to deal with increased pressures. There is an opportunity there for both,” he told C+D the day before the conference.

Earlier this month, pharmacists told C+D they were unsure about the benefits of relocating to a GP practice. NHS England is currently looking for volunteers to trial its new model of expanded GP practices, which could include pharmacists working alongside other health professionals.  

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