Vascular checks could be done through pharmacies
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BP checks will form part of assessment |
What screening will involve
Under the proposals, all 40- to 74-year olds in England would
be offered screening for vascular disease, which includes stroke,
heart and kidney diseases and diabetes.
The initiative, which will cost the NHS £250m annually
and will begin next year, could save around 2,000 lives and prevent
9,500
strokes or heart attacks, according to the DoH.
The screening will involve a patient health questionnaire as well
as a blood pressure check and blood test for cholesterol.
Patients
will receive a personal report detailing what steps they should
take to minimise their risk of vascular disease. |
Community pharmacy could play a leading role in delivering the Government’s national vascular
screening programme for England, unveiled this week by health secretary Alan Johnson.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee confirmed, following
the announcement, that it had identified vascular screening as a possible
enhanced service under the pharmacy contract two years ago. A draft service
specification has been with the Department of Health since last year.
Although the DoH refused to say whether community pharmacists would be
paid for the work under the new contract, the PSNC said it was confident
that it would be given enhanced service status.
The PSNC’s head of NHS services, Alastair Buxton, said: “The
direction of travel from the department means it is more likely to be
an enhanced service [than a national service].” He explained that
it could be classified as a directed enhanced service.
“[This]
means the department will tell primary care trusts to commission the
service but does not mean it will direct a PCT where it has to commission
the services from.”
Associate chief medical officer Bill Kirkup said: “We aim to make
vascular disease checks available in a variety of convenient places.
This could include GP surgeries, pharmacies or other community settings.”
Sue Sharpe, PSNC chief executive, said: “We can use the network
of pharmacies and their easy accessibility to provide this support to
people in locations at times that are convenient to them.”
The National Pharmacy Association pointed out that a national pharmacy
service would provide the NHS with guaranteed coverage across all primary
care trust areas. NPA chief pharmacist Colette McCreedy commented: “The
access that pharmacy provides to the whole population, rather than just
those that are ill, is a real asset the NHS can capitalise on, as it
transforms into a service focused on health rather than illness.”
She added that the NPA would be providing support to pharmacists to deliver
screening services as part of the organisation’s 2008 Ask Your
Pharmacist campaign.
John D’Arcy, Numark interim managing director, welcomed the announcement.
However, he warned that PCTs need to make greater strides in commissioning
pharmacy services at a local level.
“We hope to see some kind of
framework about this in the forthcoming White Paper. Pharmacy is ready,
willing and able to do this — it is exactly what the contract is
about.”
Family doctors, in contrast, said they were too hard pressed to take
on the extra work. Chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners
Committee Laurence Buckman said: “We have serious concerns about
the pressure this will put on an already overstretched general practice.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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