Pharmacists, NHS leaders and MPs met in Westminster on Tuesday (18) to discuss an NPA-commissioned report showing that community pharmacy interventions could help save the NHS £1.2 billion.
The York Health Economics Consortium (University of York) modelled a potential £1.2 billion of savings and calculated other large-scale benefits – driving a further £2.7 billion of value in health outcomes for the NHS - in a research report prepared for the NPA.
The researchers analysed the possible economic benefits of expanding the reach of current NHS services and the potential gain from commissioning new pharmaceutical care services, based on evidence from published literature.
Savings were identified from helping people stay healthier, avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions, and deprescribing medicines that are no longer required.
The meeting at Westminster, chaired by North Somerset MP Sadik Al-Hassan, focused on turning evidence into action.
NPA Chair Olivier Picard said: “With the right support, we can achieve significant improvements for patients and the NHS.”
The NPA in a LinkedIn post said, "This isn’t about asking pharmacies to do more with less - it’s about recognising and utilising the clinical expertise already on our high streets.
This is about making a cast iron case for investing in pharmacies - saving the NHS time and money and benefiting millions of patients."
In his LinkedIn post, Picard thanked Al-Hasan for hosting the meeting and the colleagues from York Health Economics Consortium, NHS England, Community Pharmacy England, Company Chemists' Association, and Community Pharmacy Wales for their contributions towards the report.
"Our discussion made one thing clear: Medicines optimisation is a major opportunity to improve patient outcomes and deliver better value for the NHS, and community pharmacy is central to achieving it.
"We heard strong evidence from York, valuable lessons from the Welsh Medicines Discharge Service, and academic insight on adherence and polypharmacy. There was real consensus on the early actions needed, from better commissioning to improved data sharing and closer system alignment in primary care."
