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Letters to the Editor
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Local councils
NPA developing resources for members
From Ms H. Rhodes
I would like to add my support to the comments of Graham
Jones (PJ,
7 October, p421), specifically to his call for closer engagement with
local councillors.
Local authorities have long been significant for community pharmacy,
especially due to the social services remit of many councils and their
role in supporting the local business base. Health and social care agendas
are destined to overlap increasingly. Recent primary care trust reconfiguration
has led to greater co-terminosity with local authorities, and local authorities
must, from April 2007, include health inequalities as a key indicator
within their local area agreements.
In England, local strategic partnerships (LSPs) provide a vehicle for
inter-agency collaboration. The National Pharmacy Association is conducting
a survey of LSPs, and emerging findings reveal examples of joint commissioning
of community pharmacy services to help achieve shared targets on older
people, drug misuse, teenage pregnancy and smoking. Although the level
of joint commissioning (and associated access to non-NHS funding) is
apparently limited, this is not a reason to ignore local authorities.
On the contrary, it is a summons to build relationships with council
officers and elected politicians with social services and public health
remits. The NPA has been scoping the local authority well-being agenda
for some time and we are developing member resources. Members seeking
to engage with local strategic partners can contact the NPA’s NHS
Service Development Department for guidance.
Helen Rhodes
NHS Service Development Manager (North-East & North-West England)
National Pharmacy Association |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal