The President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Mrs Christine Glover) has welcomed the announcement of the national service framework for CHD. In a press release issued on March 7, she said that pharmacists could make a significant contribution to its delivery.
Mrs Glover identified a number of areas for pharmacy involvement in a conversation with Dr Sheila Adams (director of health services, NHS Executive) following the launch of the guidelines.
Mrs Glover suggested that pharmacists could advise on the most cost-effective drugs to treat CHD and could advise individual patients about taking their medication in the most effective way. This could help reduce the currently high proportion of patients who stop taking their medication or take too low a dose of it, increasing their risk of a heart attack or stroke. By using patient medication records, pharmacists could identify high-risk patients who were already prescribed antihypertensives or lipid-lowering drugs and advise on taking low dose aspirin. "Working as members of clinical teams in primary and secondary care, pharmacists can help ensure patients receive optimal drug treatments for CHD," she said.
There was an opportunity for pharmacists to contribute in specific lifestyle issues such as smoking, diet and stress reduction. Mrs Glover identified smoking cessation and supply of nicotine replacement therapy as areas where pharmacists had a "significant role".
Mrs Glover also suggested that pharmacists working in primary care would play an important role as prescribing advisors in Primary Care Groups and Primary Care Trusts. Meanwhile, hospital pharmacists played a "crucial role" in the management of myocardial infarction. Pharmacists also contributed to cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention through drug regimes.