Pharmacists can help NHS meet sexual health standards
Community pharmacists can contribute to the achievement of draft
national standards for sexual health services in England, the National Pharmaceutical Association has told the Department of Health.
Commenting on the 10 proposed standards, the NPA says that community
pharmacy can help the achievement of every one of them. This is particularly
so in the light of opportunities offered by the new pharmacy contract,
provided that community pharmacy is included in managed service networks
and integrated care pathways.
The NPA says that flexibilities in new primary care contracting arrangements,
including the pharmacy contract, provide opportunities to support the
achievement of the service standards. It adds that workforce development
and access to training should include both community pharmacists and
their staff as part of the multidisciplinary team.
Karen Homan, head of NHS service development at the NPA, said: “In
our response we’ve highlighted community pharmacy’s contribution
to sexual health services now and in the future. Community pharmacists
are now training as supplementary prescribers, so there is the potential
for them to prescribe oral contraceptives to women and, when the time
comes, we would like to see hormonal contraception therapy as one of
the first medicines available for independent prescribing by community
pharmacists.” |
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