Pharmacy redeveloped for enhanced services
Graham Phillips (left) with Oliver Heald |
A Hertfordshire pharmacy has been redeveloped so that it can offer enhanced services under the new pharmacy contract. In particular, the local primary care trust wants the pharmacy to provide dermatology and phlebotomy services.
The newly refurbished Manor Pharmacy in Letchworth was opened on 17 September
by local MP Oliver Heald. Pharmacy owner Graham Phillips explained: “I
have a long-standing interest in public health so I approached the PCT
to find out what its priorities are in this area. I also wanted to
integrate public health with prescribing.”
Mr Phillips, who is a member of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Council, then
produced a proposal for development of his pharmacy with the chief pharmacist
and the assistant director of public health at North Herts and Stevenage
PCT. It identified targets in a number of national and local documents,
and described how the pharmacy could help to meet these targets.
New facilities at the pharmacy include a dedicated patient counselling
area, a private consultation room, networked HealthPoint computers and
a WellPoint station. Among the services the pharmacy is now offering
are diabetes monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol monitoring,
osteoporosis testing and asthma management.
The pharmacy will begin to provide further new services within the next
few weeks. First, a dermatology service was requested by the PCT because
of a lack of consultant dermatologists in the locality and because dermatology
telemedicine offered by a specialist nurse has proved expensive. “We
found we could cut 50 per cent of this workload,” explained Mr Phillips. Roles will include providing advice on appropriate
use of moisturisers, avoiding lifestyle irritants and over-use of corticosteroids.
The phlebotomy service is expected to extend beyond taking blood samples
to interpreting results and making recommendations under a protocol from
GPs. |
The
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