| The future of community pharmacy in Northern Ireland was revealed
this week by the publication of the province’s new pharmacy strategy.
When compared to the English, Welsh and Scottish pharmacy strategies,
the approach taken in Northern Ireland’s “Making it better:
a strategy for pharmacy in the community” appears to be closest
to that in Scotland.
“We will have a core service that probably will not differ much
from that in England, Scotland and Wales. However, the additional services
will
take a different approach to
respond to local needs in Northern Ireland,” says a spokesman for
the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. “For
example we have a higher level of deprivation here than in much of England
and we have a different profile of disease, such as higher rates of coronary
heart disease and teenage pregnancy.” Some of these issues are
more similar to those faced in Scotland than either England or Wales.
Three-layered approach
The Northern Ireland community pharmacy strategy is based on three
layers. At the bottom is public health, next is self-care and at the
top is
managing medicines. Public health One of the stronger themes in the strategy is the role
that community pharmacists can play in improving public health. Certainly
the emphasis on public health seems greater than in any of the other
home countries’ pharmacy strategies. “The strategy has been
heavily influenced by ‘Investing for health’, Northern Ireland’s
public health policy document,” explains the spokesman. “We
need to make better use of the pharmacy network in public health.” He
adds: “Through ‘Building the community-pharmacy partnership’ [a
public health initiative to develop pharmacies as a community health
resource] we had a good understanding of public health before we started.” This,
along with the fact that understanding of public health has developed
since the earlier strategies were published, could explain this greater
emphasis on public health, he says.
One of the public health concepts to be introduced this year is “Health
promoting pharmacies”. These will be accredited pharmacies that
provide advice on health promotion and lifestyle management. Pharmacists
will refer patients to other health and social care professionals and
offer a service to “signpost” people to other relevant community
groups. Other extended health promotion roles for pharmacists outlined
in the strategy include roles in smoking cessation, immunisation campaigns,
drug misuse services and falls prevention. Another plan is for pharmacists
to carry out health surveillance.
Self-care The pharmacist’s role in self-care will follow the Scottish
model of allowing pharmacists to treat common ailments on the Health
Service. The strategy says that this is an important area for development: “It
is widely accepted that the role of pharmacists in helping people deal
with common ailments could be utilised more fully.” The spokesman
adds: “We have got schemes testing this up and running. The Department
supports this development.” It plans to implement the scheme across
Northern Ireland in 2005.
Managing medicines A “Managing your medicines” scheme has
been in place in some parts of Northern Ireland for several years. Through
this scheme, pharmacists conduct medication reviews for people taking
multiple medicines, people with poor compliance or those who have been
recently discharged from hospital. The targets outlined in the strategy
are about building on this scheme’s success: to ensure that the
scheme becomes common practice throughout Northern Ireland and to formalise
the referral process for medication review.
A greater role for pharmacists in medication review as a whole is also
envisaged. They will undertake reviews in nursing homes and GP practices,
and provide support for carers who are managing medicines for patients.
Introducing repeat dispensing will be one of the Department’s priorities
this year. The success of a pilot study, and demand from the public,
mean that the roll-out will begin this year and continue in 2005.
A framework for supplementary prescribing is currently being developed
and a phased introduction should begin this year. “Due to additional
changes in legislation required in Northern Ireland, it is likely that
clinical pharmacists working within the hospital
environment will be the first to be trained as supplementary prescribers.
However, it is the intention that this will be an opportunity open to
all pharmacists once the necessary changes to legislation have been effected,” the
strategy states.
Alongside supplementary prescribing,
specialist clinics in community pharmacy — such as for anticoagulant
therapy, asthma or diabetes — are envisaged.
Promoting seamless care is another theme in the strategy with initiatives
scheduled for this year. Part of this will involve the Department encouraging
the introduction of integrated medicines management frameworks between
different care sectors. This will include harmonising product supply
between primary and secondary agencies so that
patients do not have their medicines changed when moving between care
sectors.
How will the changes in the framework be supported?
Like their counterparts in the rest of the UK,
community pharmacists in Northern Ireland will soon have a new
contract. The strategy says
that a new system of remuneration linked to quality rather than volume
should be introduced. “Changes should be designed to help ensure
that the emphasis in community pharmacy continues to shift from products
to patients, and from working in isolation to operating more fully
as part of the primary care team,” it says. The Department
spokesman explains: “The new contract will be built around
the strategy.” It is expected to take a format of a core service
with enhanced and additional services added on. Implementation of
the new contract is scheduled to begin in 2005 and continue into
2006.
The Office of Fair Trading report is touched on in the strategy.
The strategy confirms that simple deregulation is not the way forward
for Northern Ireland but that some improvements of existing arrangements
will be considered as part of the new contract. Another improvement
needed relating to access to services is out-of-hours provision,
although the strategy suggests that late opening of pharmacies might
be a better option than 24-hour emergency on-call cover.
Community pharmacy premises in Northern Ireland look set to improve
over the next three years. The spokesman explains: “Pharmacists
will be able to apply for funding to improve their premises with
a view to enhancing the services they provide.” Services should
be provided in an environment that respects people’s dignity
and promotes confidence to access the service. Therefore, premises
improvements such as constructing consultation areas are needed to
allow the greater privacy that patients want, the strategy states.
Access to electronic health records will be essential if community
pharmacists are to contribute effectively to patient care. “Pharmacists
will not only need to read them but will also be required to record
relevant data such as interventions and recommendations,” the
strategy says. A pilot project involving an integrated primary and
secondary care IT network called the “Electronic prescription
and eligibility system” is being tested in Northern Ireland
and this will be continued over the next few years. Automated dispensing
in community pharmacies will be piloted in 2005.
One of the Department’s top priorities for 2004 is quality.
A clinical governance framework will be developed this year and will
include standard operating procedures for common services. There
are plans to reward pharmacists who have high standards of practice
through a system of “charter marks” awarded for delivering
particular services. |
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal