Managing current risks in community pharmacy
Current challenging areas in pharmacy are in local
pharmaceutical services, the new contract, control of entry and intra-and
extra-professional competition, said JOHN D’ARCY, chief executive, National
Pharmaceutical Association.
LPS provides an alternative framework for contracting
for pharmacy services but, at present, detail is lacking. They also provide
the test-bed for the new contract. The Government is moving forward with
LPS plans and has employed two people to work in the area. He said that
the guidance on LPS has not been written yet so there is an opportunity
for pharmacy to influence it.
Medicines management is a high priority area that
covers a broad range of activities. It links with repeat dispensing, which
Mr D’Arcy suggested should operate as a paper-based system in the short-term
to lay the foundations for a future service. “If patients see pharmacy
as the place where decisions on repeat dispensing occur, then this provides
a platform for medicines management,” he said. An electronic link between
general practitioners and pharmacists was needed or the provision of medicines
management would be difficult.
The pharmacy plan gave an indication of the strategic
intent on the future of community pharmacy, although it was lacking in
indicators on delivery in terms of time and budget. However, a number
of alarm bells were ringing. There are concerns over the new contract.
Payment may no longer be based on volume of prescriptions and pharmacists
have to recognise that simply doing what they had always done will no
longer be enough, he said. In addition, pharmacists offering the best
services will be paid more at the expense of those offering poorer services.
Immediate issues for pharmacists include the loss of resale price maintenance
(huge price cuts are expected in this winter’s cough and cold season),
the inquiry into supply of generic medicines, the Office of Fair Trading’s
control of entry inquiry and workforce issues. One thing that pharmacy
has to do is protect the community pharmacy network, Mr D’Arcy said. If
the Government started to dismantle the network it would be a risk for
both pharmacy and consumers.
In terms of moving forward, community pharmacy has
to assert itself, particularly in the core area of medicines skills. Pharmacy
also has to be prepared to tackle no-go areas. “As a profession we are
risk averse but in some areas we will need to take risks.” he said. Pharmacy
should engage all stakeholders because it cannot operate in a vacuum.
In addition, pharmacists need to co-operate with each other: “There are
enough enemies outside the profession,” he said. This also applies to
the professional bodies which must to collaborate to tackle the huge agenda
facing pharmacy.
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