Christopher Hodges: commitment to more advanced services is top
of his wish list |
Ensuring community pharmacy’s full potential is recognised
is one of the biggest challenges facing pharmacy’s negotiating
body in England and is something that Christopher Hodges, the new chairman
of the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee, wants to achieve more than anything else.
Dr Hodges believes community pharmacy can do much to relieve pressure on
both primary and secondary care, to reduce healthcare inequalities and
to promote public health messages.
“Pharmacists are undoubtedly the most accessible healthcare provider
in the community at a time when NHS resources are increasingly under pressure,” he
says. “If we can have community pharmacy’s potential properly
recognised and utilised, that will be a great achievement.”
However, Dr Hodges acknowledges that the PSNC has a few hurdles to clear.
“We have a major challenge to persuade every primary care trust,
practice-based commissioning group, the Department of Health and pharmacist
to look at
the community pharmacy as being a provider of a range of accessible health
services.”
He believes that the old perception that pharmacies were only or mainly
providers of medicines is already changing.
“I would cite as an example of this the plethora of different enhanced
services that are already available in community pharmacies that were,
only a short
time ago, inconceivable. There is, however, much more work that needs to
be done to convince those that are not already convinced of the benefits
to patients of an extended role for community pharmacists.”
Dr Hodges would ultimately like to see pharmacists taking on much more
of the GP workload. “For example, a national minor ailments scheme
would certainly help GPs to concentrate on patients with more complicated
needs and in addition be more convenient to patients,” he says.
In addition, the PSNC would like to see pharmacists more involved with
screening, the management of long-term conditions and other conditions,
such as obesity.
“In particular, we would like to see community pharmacists working
in partnership with GP practices since this is essential to building capacity
in an integrated
healthcare service.”
To achieve this, the first priority for Dr Hodges and the PSNC is to get
recognition of the skills and potential community pharmacy offers the NHS
in terms of increasing capacity, and using the accessibility of pharmacies
to provide more easily accessible services for patients.
“We are working very hard to make the case with the DoH, NHS Employers,
patient groups and others for the benefits that pharmacists can bring to
the NHS. Much of our work is support for local pharmaceutical committees
and ensuring that local innovations are publicised to other LPCs,” he
says.
Dr Hodges points out that the Government’s current focus is on localisation
and devolvement of power from the centre to primary care trusts but that
what pharmacy contractors need is the security of a national framework.
“Where there are common needs for services in all communities, we
will work to ensure that they are offered in a core national contract,” he
says.
Dr Hodges predicts that LPCs and local negotiation with PCTs will be much
more important in the future than now. And this means that contractors
will have to keep abreast of local developments.
Again, he stresses his belief that there would be substantial benefits
to patients and to the NHS from further advanced services and hopes this
will feature in the forthcoming White Paper on pharmacy services.
“A
central commitment by the Department of Health to provide further advanced
services, such as that of a national minor ailments service, would be top
on my wish list,” he says.
Dr Hodges recognises that pharmacy contractors are working in a turbulent
environment, having to adapt to the money-saving practices of their local
PCTs.
“There are some PCTs that go to great lengths to make small savings,
changing guidance frequently for little gain other than confusing patients.
We need
to ensure that these perverse incentives are addressed. As to how we do
so I listen to the wise advice of the contractors who sit around the PSNC
table.”
Dr Hodges has been appointed chairman of the PSNC for two years, his
term running until September 2009. “My commitment is to do the best I
can for community pharmacy in this period,” he promises. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal