The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7328 p805
4 December 2004

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Super surgery opens; pharmacy planned for 2005

The first “super surgery” to be part of the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT), involving public-private partnership, has opened in East London. However, a spokeswoman for the National Pharmaceutical Association has warned that these schemes could destabilise the pharmacy network.

The £4.9m health centre in Newham, opened by Health Secretary John Reid last week, will include a pharmacy and will offer a range of services traditionally available only in hospitals. A spokeswoman for Newham Primary Care Trust, explained that the planned services would be fully operational by spring 2005. A pharmacy, run by a consortium of 10 local pharmacy contractors, is planned to open in the new year.

Shiv Bagga, a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Council and a community pharmacist in Newham, was involved in negotiations with the local PCT for the pharmacy contract. “We wanted as many contractors as possible to be engaged in the process,” he said.

He explained that the consortium decided to buy the pharmacy situated closest to the health centre and then to apply to the PCT for a minor relocation. “This was appealed against but has now been granted. We are currently negotiating the lease terms for the pharmacy,” he said.

Karen Homan, head of NHS Service Development at the NPA, told The Journal that NHS LIFT schemes provided opportunities for pharmacy contractors to work closely with GPs and other health care professionals. She added that the NPA supported a consortium approach to providing pharmacy services through LIFT schemes. However, she acknowledged that LIFT schemes could present threats to local pharmacy services and that PCTs should carry out a pharmaceutical needs assessment. She added that consortia were not always the answer. “If the PCT is reliant on a network of community pharmacies then it must ensure that the LIFT scheme does not disrupt this network,” she said.

As well as general practice and pharmacy services, the Newham health centre will house a cardiology clinic, X-ray facilities, pathology services, optometry and dentistry services, and a healthy living cafe.