Pharmacy represented in pilot site for DoH project
Rod Tucker: photographed when he won a Pharmaceutical Care Award
in 2003 |
Pharmacist supplementary prescriber Rod Tucker works as part of a community dermatology service that has been selected by the Department of Health as one of 30 pilot sites for the Care
Closer to Home Demonstration Project, announced this week. The project aims to identify examples of where a service has successfully moved from secondary to primary care in six specialty areas: dermatology; urology; ear, nose and throat; orthopaedics; gynaecology; and general surgery.
Dr Tucker is a pharmacist at HMP Hull and spends one session a week working
as part of the Hull and East Riding Dermatology Service, which also includes
a consultant dermatologist, two GPs with special interests (GPwSIs) and
a nurse practitioner. The service is provided from two GP health centres.
“I undertake ongoing prescribing for people with skin conditions,
such as acne, eczema and psoriasis. I am also trained to use cryotherapy
to
treat warts,” Dr Tucker told The Journal. He explained that fewer
patients need to see the consultant or GPwSIs for their follow-up appointments
since their ongoing care can be managed by him. “This allows for
the service to increase the number of patients seen, hence reducing the
waiting time for new patients,” said Dr Tucker.
The consultant dermatologist, Shernaz Walton, has been seeing dermatology
patients in the community for the past 15 years but more recently has
been joined by the other members of the team.
She explained that, previously, all patients would have been referred
by their GP to the hospital, but that now the patients can be seen by
the most suitable health professional for their particular complaint. “What
makes the service in Hull unique is the inclusion of a pharmacist practitioner
in the team and it is this aspect that the Department of Health is particularly
interested in,” Dr Walton added.
Dr Tucker’s work setting up a pharmacist-led dermatology clinic
in HMP Moorlands
in Doncaster has previously won him a Pharmaceutical
Care Award for innovation in primary care (PJ, 5 July 2003, p17).
The pilot sites will be evaluated and a steering group, together with
patient representatives, will make recommendations to the DoH in early
2007 about which models are appropriate to be rolled out across the NHS.
Other pilot sites chosen include a nurse-led home chemotherapy service,
consultant-led clinics provided in the community, and minor and intermediate
surgical procedures led by GPwSIs. |
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