Galbraith review will look beyond control of entry
The Government's review of pharmaceutical service provision will look beyond control of entry at other legislation affecting pharmacy, Jeannette Howe, head of pharmacy at the Department of Health, said last week.
Speaking at a briefing on the review
of the current contractual arrangements for the provision of NHS pharmaceutical services in England (PJ, 20 January,
p63), Mrs Howe said that, although contractual arrangements for pharmaceutical
services are currently governed by the control of entry system, the review
would be looking at other options. “Is there another way in which
we could frame contractual arrangements for pharmaceutical contractors,
something other than control of entry,” she asked. “If you
had a blank sheet of paper, how would you go about designing contractual
arrangements for pharmaceutical services?”
Anne Galbraith, who will undertake the review, stressed that her review
had no pre-specified limits.
“I have had no limitations placed on how I review and on how I
look at things. I’ve no doubt if I produced something which was
totally unrealistic or unpalatable, it might gather dust on a shelf,” she
said. To support the review, Ms Galbraith has identified several key
questions to ask stakeholders. These include:
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and what
are the barriers to improving it?
• How should the arrangements develop to improve access for patients
and maximise value for money for the NHS?
• How can pharmaceutical arrangements best mesh with wider NHS developments,
such as practice-based commissioning?
• How can arrangements best reward high-quality service provision?
She will be consulting with interested groups over the next few weeks
and completing her review by March. |
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Pharmaceutical Journal
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