Third wave of 11 LPS pilots approved in England
Eleven third-wave local
pharmaceutical services (LPS) pilots have been approved by the Department of Health for England.
Health minister John Hutton said: “Pharmacy has even greater potential
as a fully integrated part of the NHS and these
pilots are at the forefront of improving the
accessibility and range of NHS pharmacy services in the community. In
addition to each pilot’s dispensing responsibilities, they will
also provide a range of other services needed locally.” The extra
services to be offered include longer opening hours, smoking cessation
clinics, substance misuse services, safe medicines disposal, emergency
hormonal contraception and advice to help patients get the most from
their medicines.
Mr Hutton added: “These additional NHS community services will
not just improve
patients’ health but also ease GPs’ workload, help older
people live independently, and
reduce the harm of smoking and drug misuse by making the most of pharmacists’ skills.”
This brings the number of approved LPS schemes to 29. The first wave
of four pilots was approved in 2002 (PJ, 24 August 2002, p237) and was
followed by a second wave of 14 pilots (PJ, 15 February 2003, p213).
Applications for a fourth wave of LPS schemes have to be made by 1 September. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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