Medicines Management
Issue no 2, p5
March/April 2002

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PCT to pay community pharmacists to help review older patients' medication

PCTs are beginning to pay community pharmacists to provide medicines management support to GPs outside the collaborative first and second wave pilots.

Community pharmacists in Hillingdon PCT are to be paid a sessional fee for providing advice on prescribing to local GPs as part of a medication reviews service for older people.

And under the scheme, running in Hayes and Harlington locality within Hillingdon PCT, community pharmacists will be paid for providing advice during audit sessions on coronary heart disease, prescribing for depression and schizophrenia prescribing.

Audits of patients on diabetes medications are already underway. Prescribing adviser Vasundra Tailor said that although the audits were useful for identifying gaps in care, resources were often not available to rectify them.

"Once we've identified the gaps we don't always have the resources to deal with them, in terms of money or time," she said.

"But we've managed to convince our prescribing subcommittee to set aside an amount from our prescribing budget to pay pharmacists for providing advice during these audit sessions," added Ms Tailor.

Hillingdon PCT recently wrote to all its community pharmacists to invite them to become involved in NSAIDs clinics, being planned as part of a review of older people's medication for musculoskeletal disorders.

The PCT is organising a training day on appropriate NSAID prescribing, and once pharmacists have attended they will then be linked with a local GP practice.

"The idea is for the pharmacist to review the notes of patients over the age of 65 in each practice, and make recommendations with the GPs' consent of where medication could be improved," said Ms Tailor. She added that the NSAID clinics would start in March.

Hillingdon PCT has so far been unsuccessful so far in its bid to become a National Prescribing Centre medicines management collaborative pilot site.

"We don't really know why," said Ms Tailor.