Pharmacists should provide home services
Pharmacists should seek funding to provide services in people's homes, community centres and care homes, UniChem declares in its response to the All-Party
Pharmacy Group's inquiry into the future of pharmacy
(PJ, 24 June, p739).
UniChem believes that pharmacy can tackle inequality and improve access
to community services — one of the goals of the “Our health,
our care, our say” White Paper. To do so, pharmacists should, it
argues, “obtain funding for services away from the pharmacy in
the community, eg, in care homes, community centres, and GP surgeries
and during domiciliary visits”.
The company also challenges pharmacists to go further, and to “develop
their role working with social services to improve
advice and patient care to vulnerable groups”.
The community pharmacy contracts should, UniChem contends, evolve to
allow the pharmacist to manage care in the community, away from the pharmacy. “Pharmacists
should be encouraged to develop innovative services away from the pharmacy
for patients in their homes, including health monitoring and advice,
medicines management, long-term condition management and an extension
of their prescribing role,” it urges.
In addition, UniChem argues that the Government should also consider
providing additional funding for contract applications in deprived areas
with low health care support infrastructure. “Remuneration incentives
should be provided for pharmacies that are willing to provide services
in deprived areas identified on primary care trust strategic health plans,” the
company says. |
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