The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7482 p670
15 December 2007

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PSNC highlights pharmacy to Darzi review

Three areas in which the development of community pharmacy services will help achieve the Government’s aim of shifting health care from secondary to primary care services have been highlighted by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.

Responding to the second phase of Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS in England (PJ, 20 October, p427), the PSNC said that national commissioning of a pharmacy-based minor ailment scheme would overcome a shortfall of GP capacity. The PSNC pointed out that 52 million GP consultations every year are for minor ailments alone.

“The existing [minor ailment] schemes, commissioned locally, have demonstrated their value in a number of patient satisfaction and academic evaluations, but access to the schemes is not uniformly available to all patients,” the PSNC said.

It called for a national scheme to be supported by national promotion in order to engineer a change in consumer behaviour so that they make greater use of the pharmacy service.

Lord Darzi was also told by the PSNC that the management of long-term conditions in pharmacies could be expanded, as could encouraging healthy lifestyles. Possible services included managing anticoagulant patients so that they would not need to travel to hospital clinics for blood tests and dose adjustment and current pathfinder pharmacy services for managing weight and obesity.

Sue Sharpe, PSNC chief executive, said: “Community pharmacy has a substantial part to play in future care provision in the NHS. Our response highlights the areas where community pharmacy can play a greater role in contributing to improving care, especially through minor ailments services, managing long-term conditions and provision of both advice and services that allow patients to make an informed choice about healthy lifestyles.

“There is a great contribution that community pharmacy can make to helping the NHS build capacity to manage future demands. We hope Lord Darzi and his advisers recognise this.”