Hayes and Harlington primary care group, west London, is to pay community pharmacists in its area for completing prescription intervention forms aimed at keeping prescribing within the PCG's incentive scheme targets.
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Pharmacists will receive £5 for each valid intervention |
When a pharmacist received a prescription where an intervention was possible, the patient would be counselled by the pharmacist about any proposed change and an intervention form would be completed with the relevant details, including a calculation of the possible savings generated by a change of prescription. This form would be faxed to both the prescriber and the prescribing adviser. Normally, the original prescription would then be dispensed unaltered. The prescribing adviser would in turn send details of the intervention to the "link pharmacist" for the practice who would discuss the proposed change with the prescriber. The change would then be made by the general medical practitioner at the next occasion of prescribing if it was felt appropriate.
The link pharmacists are a group of community pharmacists who have received training, paid for by Hillingdon health authority, on giving prescribing advice and who now have experience of working with the 17 practices in the Hayes and Harlington area. Each is expected to visit their link practice twice a month to provide support for implementing any changes agreed after pharmacist interventions have been made.
Mr Rao said that a budget of £7,000 had been allocated to the interventions scheme which would run until the end of March. Community pharmacists would be paid a fee of £5 for each valid intervention form completed, as long as the cap on the budget was not breached. A further £5,000 had been allocated to pay for link pharmacist visits. All the intervention forms completed between January and March were to be analysed. Three education and training evenings had been held for the community pharmacists who were participating in the scheme.
Mr Rao added that Hayes and Harlington PCG, together with the adjoining Uxbridge and West Drayton PCG and North Hillingdon PCG, was part of a first-wave primary care trust application. It was hoped that if the scheme was successful it could be taken on and extended by the PCT.
Mr Michael Levitan (secretary, Middlesex group of local pharmaceutical committees) welcomed the scheme, telling The Journal: "We see it as a first, easy step towards closer working between PCGs and community pharmacists."