The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7214 p311
7 September 2002

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Guide to NSF for Older People (PDF 440K), requires Acrobat Reader 4 or later

Guide to NSF for Older People issued

A guide for community pharmacists on the National Service Framework for Older People (PJ, 31 March 2001, pp415-416) has been produced jointly by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the National Pharmaceutical Association and the Company Chemists Association.

Announcing the guide on 3 September, the PSNC said: "The NSF for Older People is of special interest to pharmacists. As well as setting standards of care for older people in all settings across health and social care, a significant element within the document is the relationship between older people and their medication. There are clear messages of relevance for community pharmacists, which are the focus of the resource pack."

The NSF sets specific targets for primary care trusts to introduce medication reviews for the over 75s and, by April 2004, to have schemes in place so that older people get more help from pharmacists in using medicines (PJ, 17 August, p209).

The pharmacists' guide summarises the NSF, outlining its relevance to community pharmacy, and focuses on practical guidance, providing ideas, model bids, examples of work and explaining who to target and how to go about it with emphasis on the need for multidisciplinary working.

The guide includes a checklist of potential services that pharmacists can provide, along with pro formas for medication reviews and model bids. Copies are available from the organisations that produced it.