Key Summary
- New report says pharmacies could become a key part of neighbourhood healthcare
- Urges investment, better planning, and closer work with the NHS and policymakers
- Warns the chance will be lost without action now
Community Pharmacy England’s (CPE) latest report has stated that the next decade “offers an unprecedented opportunity to transform the community pharmacy sector into a cornerstone of the Government’s proposed Neighbourhood Health Service.”
The report titled ‘A Prescription for Success – the role of community pharmacy in delivering the 10 year plan for health‘, has been developed by Helen Buckingham.
It poses a series of crucial questions that needs to be addressed to enable community pharmacy to realise its full potential.
The report points out that the key policy goals set for the community pharmacy by Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund report align with the vision and the broader ambitions set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan.
It exhorts CPE and Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) to work with decision-makers at both a national and local level to address the challenges that the Government’s ambitions present.
This would ensure that community pharmacies “can then sit at the heart of neighbourhood health services, maximising their impact to deliver better value for commissioners and an improved experience for patients and the public.”
The report calls upon the policymakers, commissioners, and system leaders to engage community pharmacy in service transformation; invest in digital and physical infrastructure; strengthen commissioning capacity; integrate pharmacy workforce planning; and reform the community pharmacy contract.
The CPE said it will be shortly releasing more information and resources to help pharmacy owners and LPCs facilitate conversations with local stakeholders such as leaders of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said, “This important review of the relationship between the Vision for Community Pharmacy and the 10-Year Health Plan sets out a clear pathway to ensure the pharmacies of tomorrow can become a cornerstone of neighbourhood health.
“It’s landing at a pivotal moment as policymakers are working out how best to implement the 10-Year Plan and Community Pharmacy England prepares to enter discussions on what comes next for the sector.”
Helen Buckingham noted that community pharmacies are a familiar presence on every high street, trusted by patients and increasingly recognised for the contribution they make to neighbourhood healthcare, which goes far beyond the dispensing of medicines.
“But there is work to be done at both national and local level to ensure that community pharmacy can fully realise its potential as a cornerstone of the neighbourhood health service.
“Without investment in both workforce and infrastructure, and a commitment on the part of community pharmacy to continue to transform, there is a real risk this opportunity will be missed.”
