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Keith Ridge hopes individual pharmacists will
get involved
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Lord Darzi’s Next Stage Review of the NHS for England could bring
about a wave of change affecting the way the NHS operates — to
which pharmacy would not be immune.
Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer at the Department of Health,
believes that pharmacy has an important future role to play in delivering
a fairer, safer, effective and more personal service for people. “It’s
therefore important to be at the forefront of the discussion process,” he
declares.
Lord Darzi has asked Dr Ridge to canvass the opinions of pharmacists
at a couple of events — one to be held at the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society headquarters in London (27 February) and another in Manchester
(5 March).
“I really hope that individual pharmacists will take the opportunity
to get involved,” Dr Ridge says, “not just at national events
like those in London and Manchester, but also at a more local or regional
level. And don’t always wait to be asked!”
Andy Murdock, pharmacy director at Lloydspharmacy, sits on the advisory
board that is helping Lord Darzi conduct the review. “What we will
see from this review is how primary and community care is to be practised
going forward,” says Mr Murdock.
“Consequently this process
needs the input from a range of healthcare professionals to ensure best
processes, best systems and ultimately best patient care is delivered.
Naturally pharmacy has its role to play here with its extensive network
and skill sets.”
Dr Ridge says: “I’m very pleased that Andy Murdock, supported
by a reference group made up of people from across pharmacy practice,
is representing pharmacy on the advisory board.”
He goes on: “The NHS has come a long way over the past 60 years,
and in my view, wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much without
the dedication, commitment and innovation associated with the pharmacy
profession. Pharmacists have a unique knowledge and set of skills which
must be fed into any discussions about making the NHS better and safer
for the public and patients.”
Engagement
But how good are pharmacists at making their voices heard? Mr Murdock
says that, although many pharmacists are aware of the review, he is
not sure how many appreciate the impact its outcomes may have on the
expected pharmacy White Paper.
Dr Ridge reflects: “It’s never easy to ensure busy front-line
practitioners are fully aware of important strategic initiatives like
these. However, the outcome of the review will impact on everyone working
in the NHS as well those who utilise it.
“My understanding is that there
is a high level of awareness of the review in general terms, particularly
with the recent high profile media coverage. We envisage greater awareness
as one of the benefits of having the engagement events.”
He adds: “Ministers
are quite clear they want to see pharmacy engaged in the review and the
events will provide an opportunity to contribute to it. As themes emerge
from the work of the review, these will inform and influence the development
of the forthcoming White Paper on pharmacy in England.”
Michael Beaman, pharmaceutical adviser for the Society’s practice
division, believes that pharmacists have been overwhelmed by many recent
consultations, such as those on the future professional body, Society
fees and the responsible pharmacist, and may not know very much about
the Darzi review.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee head of NHS services Alastair
Buxton concurs: “It is not easy to find time to respond to reviews
such as this, but the views of grass roots pharmacists who are working
day in, day out with their patients will have very useful practical insights
into how the NHS could be developed to provide better services for patients.
It is important that these ideas are shared.”
Mr Beaman suggests that there should be more events of this kind, either
regionally or locally. Expectation
So what kind of issues should pharmacists be prepared to discuss?
According to Dr Ridge, Lord
Darzi’s interim report, published in
October 2007, included a commitment to identify how pharmacies can best
support seamless urgent care.
“We know there are concerns about
prompt and easy access to medicines, including urgent repeat orders.
Alongside
this, the other two key areas these events will focus on — and
ensure we get robust feedback — are supporting people with long-term
conditions and staying healthy.”
Mr Murdock says individual pharmacists ought to be thinking about: • What direction they want to see the professional travelling in
• How they see pharmacy practice in the future and, consequently, how
skills may have to change
• Pharmacy’s role in delivering integrated care and how the greater
pharmacy family can be used to better effect
• How pharmacy can become better engaged in commissioning
• What they consider to be barriers for pharmacy
Mr Buxton believes: “A good result [from the review] would be
the development of a genuinely level playing field for NHS primary care
service provision, so community pharmacy could compete to provide services
to patients based on quality, convenience and accessibility.
“At the moment
practice-based commissioning is not delivering such an environment, but
it is imperative that it is developed if the goal of shifting care out
of hospitals is to occur.”
Fin McCaul, Independent Pharmacy Federation chairman,
hopes that the review will recognise the value that the commercial environment
in which
pharmacy operates offers the NHS. “The Darzi review is very much
about bringing support and effective care out to the patients, so this
is very important. Pharmacy is great at dealing with patients and is
a very personable service. We also have great opportunities to deal with
and manage long term care.”
The National Pharmacy Association is keen for Lord Darzi to better integrate
pharmacy into urgent care systems. Stephen Fishwick,
NPA head of external relations, elaborates: “Community pharmacies
already play an important role in the provision of urgent care and with
the right environment that
role could increase greatly.”
He suggests that national schemes
for minor ailments and for emergency supply of regularly prescribed medicines
would be consistent with Lord Darzi’s vision.
“We hope pharmacists will convey their day-to-day experiences of the challenge
of providing services within the NHS,” Mr Fishwick adds, “but
also bring good-news stories to the table — it’s paramount
that Darzi sees pharmacy as part the solution, not as a problem.
“It is
also important to present a case for community pharmacy as part of a
multidisciplinary, multi-provider effort, with seamless patient care
as the goal.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal