Pharmacy welcomes health and social care paper
 Pharmacy organisations have broadly welcomed this week's Government White Paper on health and social care, which calls for an expansion of the role of pharmacists in primary care.
At the launch of “Our
health, our care, our say — a new direction
for community services”, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said: “Over
the next 10 years, I want to see 5 per cent of resources shifted from
secondary to primary care, which will help to make primary and community
services more responsive to people’s needs.”
In the introduction to the White Paper, Prime Minister Tony Blair says: “We
can make better use of the skills and experience of those working in
the NHS to improve care, cut delays and make services more convenient.
We want, for example, to expand the role of practice nurses and local
pharmacists.”
The Company Chemists Association, the National Pharmacy Association,
the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society have all welcomed the main messages.
Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the PSNC, said that there has never been
such a great
opportunity for community pharmacy to
develop its NHS role. However, she warned that it will be essential for
pharmacy to work
collaboratively with GP and nurse colleagues
if the benefits described in the White Paper
are to be realised. It will also be important, she said, for the NHS
to ensure that the future commissioning of NHS primary care services
supports the developing use of pharmacy. “In poorer areas with
perhaps the biggest health care needs, the potential gains from developing
use of pharmacies, is enormous,” she added.
John D’Arcy, chief executive of the NPA, commented: “The
White Paper provides not just a vision of what needs to be done, but
also a means of achievement. Community pharmacy is poised to make an
enhanced contribution to primary care — and has the potential to
deliver on many of the White Paper’s priorities. But, if it is
to do so, the warm and welcome words of support from ministers must be
translated into action.”
The White Paper emphasises that partnership working and practice-based
commissioning will be key to delivering the changes outlined, Gerald
Alexander, Vice-President of the Society, said. “It is important
that pharmacists are fully engaged with this process,” he added. “In
addition, the transfer of services from secondary to primary care will
require pharmacists in both these areas to work together to ensure the
smooth transition and development of services. I would encourage my pharmacist
colleagues to embrace these new and exciting opportunities.”
Georgina Craig, head of communications and partnership development at
the CCA, commented: “Where expansion into a broader portfolio of
primary care services is a good strategic fit with future plans, it will
be exciting to see how pharmacy businesses respond to the new incentives.
The opportunities are great; but it is also important for pharmacy to
recognise that in the future, competition will come in many shapes and
guises — and not just from neighbouring pharmacies.”
Leading article p122
News feature p129 |
The
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