The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7188 p311-320
9 March 2002

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BMA puts forward new care model

A new model for the provision of National Health Service care has been proposed in a British Medical Association discussion paper.

The paper proposes a role for nurse practitioners as the first point of contact between patients and the NHS. Nurses would see patients and decide whom they should see, be it a pharmacist, a general practitioner, or a social services or benefits worker.

In secondary care, nurses would again take a central role as co-ordinators of all care given by other professionals.

On pharmacists, the discussion paper says: "There have been a number of initiatives [showing] that community and hospital pharmacists can develop their roles in the interests of improving patient care and managing demand. Strategies include supporting self-care through advice on over-the-counter medication, thereby reducing the demand for GP consultations; repeat dispensing where long-term medication is dispensed in instalments and regularly reviewed with the pharmacist rather than repeated GP visits; and more general medicines management where pharmacists provide medication reviews and ongoing information and support — particularly useful for patients with complex conditions which require a number of different medications."

BMA chairman Dr Ian Bogle said: "These ideas are rooted in the reality of how the NHS works. They aim to overcome the confusion and frustration, duplication of effort, and waste of time and resources which is all too common in today's NHS. We look forward to discussing them with our nursing colleagues and with other professional bodies and the Government in the weeks ahead."