Kent LPC said it has secured a “significant additional local funding” to support the implementation of the GP Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (GP CPCS) across the Kent and Medway area.
The local pharmacies will receive a percentage of the Access Improvement Programme Fund to prepare for the service and to train pharmacists to support GP surgeries ready to go live.
The funding was originally intended for GP surgeries within the Primary Care Network to cover the training and backfill costs for the service, as part of a plan to increase the involvement of the practices with GP CPCS.
The Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) said the allotment of the funding to the pharmacies follows regular meetings with their local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and other members of primary care, impressing upon them the potential of the service in helping release the much needed capacity into GP practices.
“It has been a challenging year for pharmacies and GP practices alike, but GP CPCS is a great opportunity for pharmacies to support their GP colleagues whilst providing better integrated care to patients,” Shilpa Shah, chief executive of Kent LPC, commented.
Alistair Lindsay, associate director of primary care transformation, Kent & Medway CCG, added: “I am pleased that the CCG is able to work closely with Kent LPC to support practices in the roll out of GP CPCS across Kent & Medway and continue to develop the relationships between general practice and community pharmacy colleagues.”
The area has 196 GP practices and 326 community pharmacies.
