Page 23 - P4403.59-V61_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Mar 25 PRINT 2_Neat
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Community pharmacy has                       Finally, the shift from sickness to
                              always been the odd man out                  prevention. Here I think we have
                              in discussions about healthcare              perhaps the strongest claim of any
                              in this country. While we play a             part of the healthcare system to play
                              vitally important role in ensuring           the leading role. By the very nature of
                              millions of patients throughout              our profession, we have the greatest
                              the UK receive the medication                regular exposure to patients, while
                              they need to manage their                    there are 6,000 GP surgeries in
                              conditions, we have never really             England, we have nearly double that
                              been considered a part of the                number of community pharmacies.
                              NHS family and as a result have              Each of our widespread network serves
                              been shut out of conversations               a relatively small catchment area
                              regarding NHS reform.                        enabling pharmacists to develop a
                                                                           unique relationship with their patients
                              Following the Lord Darzi report earlier      borne out of constant two-way
                              this year this Government has set out        communication. Due to this privileged
                              our ‘three big shifts’ that will guide the   position, we are naturally suited
                              NHS reform agenda and I see a clear          amongst all healthcare professionals
                              role for pharmacy in each of those           to play the leading role in the
                              areas.
                                                                           prevention agenda - providing advice
                              First, the shift from hospital to            and early intervention to effectively
                              community. Pharmacy First was a good         manage our patients’ conditions.
                              first step into a new role for community
                              pharmacy but with only 7 eligible            What lessons will this mean
                              conditions we lag far behind Scotland,       in practice for pharmacists?
                              or even Wales, and the priority must be      My two decades working on the ground
                              expanding what services pharmacies           in community pharmacy showed me
                              can provide. By taking on a greater role     just how passionate and hardworking
                              in the healthcare system we can relieve      those working in our profession can be.
                              pressure off overwhelmed hospitals           But it also showed me that too often
                              and strained GPs and finally enable          we can get stuck in our ways. Common
                              our highly educated, but underutilised,      practices in pharmacy haven’t
                              workforce to play an equal role in the       changed significantly for decades and
                              healthcare system. However, with             we must be willing to step out of our
                              dispensing volumes ever growing and          comfort zone and embrace change if
                              with a shrinking workforce due to a          we are to have a future.
                              frozen funding settlement, pharmacy
                              can only provide these additional            But what lessons will this
                              services if we first create additional       mean in practice for the
                              capacity in the system.                      Government too?
                              Secondly, the shift from analogue            It will mean finally giving pharmacy
                              to digital. While there are many             a seat at the table and listening to
                              ways pharmacy can implement                  its voice. As I hope I have outlined
                              the digitalisation & modernisation           above, pharmacy can be at the heart
                              agenda, Hub and Spoke must be                of the NHS reform agenda; driving it
                              at the top of our priority list. As          forward and ensuring its success, but
                              previously mentioned, in services            only if it is provided with a fair funding
                              pharmacy has a clear future role to          framework that not only temporarily
                              play in the healthcare system but            halts its decline but enables it to play a
                              we can only realise that future if we        greater role in the healthcare system.
                              first create additional capacity. By
                              finally implementing Hub and Spoke
                              Model One, we can unlock efficiencies
                              and free up time previously spent
                              dispensing and look towards the
                              delivery of clinical services under an
                              expanded Pharmacy First scheme.




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                                                                                                                 07/02/2025   11:51:07
         P4403.59-V61_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Mar 25.indd   23
         P4403.59-V61_Numark Pharmacy Magazine Mar 25.indd   23                                                  07/02/2025   11:51:07
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