Liberal Democrat plans include pharmacy
Community pharmacies feature in new policy proposals (PDF, 300K)to be considered this year at the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference.
The proposals, published this week, suggest the creation of a network of patient advocates employed by or on behalf of local health boards (which would replace primary care trusts in England) and based in community pharmacies, among other locations. The party plans that members of these health boards should be directly elected and that local services should be funded by a local income tax.
The role of patient advocates would be to help patients and carers navigate the health and social care systems and advise them on the best use of any direct payments or individual budgets they might have for their health or care.
“Despite information becoming much more readily available, many patients are still left bewildered by the sheer complexity of the health and social care systems, by the divide between health and social care and by their entitlement to benefits, as well as by how to choose a hospital,” the policy paper says.
The party is also to be asked to support proposals to increase people’s management of their own health.
“We propose to further expand and develop expert patient initiatives as a cost-effective way of facilitating enhanced self-care. Regular medicine reviews undertaken by pharmacists should also be developed further,” the paper states.
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