The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7239 p323
8 March 2003

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Minister gives £9.1m for medicines management

David Lammy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, speaking at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee annual dinner in London earlier this week, announced a further £9.1m would be made available for next year to support medicines management, local pharmaceutical services and repeat dispensing projects.

The announcement came at the end of the speech in which he extolled the virtues of LPS and how its development should be seen as "an exemplar for how services might look in the future."

He explained his enthusiasm for LPS because it could liberate the National Health Service, and pharmacists, to provide services where they are most needed and to enable wider access to the NHS, and because LPS could deliver services for people with extra needs, particularly the elderly and chronically disabled. "I am also enthusiastic because LPS will make pharmacy the pivotal point in the interface between primary and secondary care," he said.

Mr Lammy cited the example of the service provided by John Foreman and Tim O'Donoghue at Greenlight Pharmacy in London, who ensured that language barriers for a deprived Bangladeshi community were minimised to improve access to care (PJ, 21 July 2001, p77).

Mr Lammy also repeated the Government's support for medicines management and pointed out that under the new pharmacy contract — whatever form it takes — plus the potential new GP contract and local initiatives funded by PCTs, pharmacists have a chance to take on a much larger role. "Minor ailment clinics, repeat dispensing, supplementary prescribing and even independent prescribing all offer opportunities for you to contribute to medicines management and ensure that patients get the most out of their medicines," he said.

Repeat dispensing could enhance patient convenience, reduce burdens on GPs and cut waste — as well as making better use of pharmacy skills, he said.

Mr Lammy also mentioned the work under way to develop a generic medicines management framework for the NSFs dealing with longer term conditions such as diabetes and renal services, where there will be a much enhanced role for pharmacists.