Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

EXCLUSIVE: Preserving community pharmacy within the digital health revolution

By Issa Dasu-Patel

Growing up with a family that worked in pharmacy, our dinner time conversation was not like that of other families. Ours would centre around medicines, prescriptions, and the health challenges within our local community.


I quickly came to understand the importance of the role played by community pharmacists. So I can’t help but be concerned that the current direction being taken by digital health innovation threatens to leave community pharmacies behind.

Whilst it is brilliant that patients can easily access their prescriptions through the rise of online pharmacies, many of these cut out the vital knowledge and expertise of local community pharmacists, and threaten to end the traditional close ties between local community pharmacists and their patients.

issa dasu patel Issa Dasu-Patel

Nine out of 10 NHS users believe that pharmacists play an unrivalled role when it comes to keeping patients in the community safe. We must ensure that digital health does not replace this important source of advice for health problems and injuries, but instead preserves and enhances this vital, personal role and enables pharmacists to continue delivering care in new and effective ways.

A vital connection with patients

Community pharmacies provide crucial support to local patients with managing their medicines safely, particularly older and more vulnerable people. The specific expertise and knowledge held by pharmacists can help inform the long-term management of a patient’s condition and ensure they are kept safe from potential side effects and complications.

Regular consultations enable them to build up a comprehensive picture of a patient’s health and medication history, making them especially well-placed to advise on next steps or spot when something is wrong.

While the rise in digital and remote care delivery - which particularly escalated during the pandemic - continues to push many pharmacy services online, the role played by community pharmacists remains essential. So a conscious effort is needed to ensure this is facilitated by new digital services.

The missing link in remote care

Currently, there is a significant gap in digital health when it comes to sharing vital medicines information. Prescription details are held separately across different healthcare services, making it difficult for individual clinicians and carers to gain a full picture of a patient’s health.

Patients and their carers are left in the dark when it comes to medicines, without access to the support and expertise traditionally delivered by community pharmacists.

Whilst progress in digital health is key to providing effective remote care at a time when patient demand continues to rise, it must not continue to exclude the role of pharmacists in the care it is able to provide.

We must preserve the connection between pharmacist knowledge and patient care by building solutions that effectively incorporate and facilitate their expertise and support.

Supporting people to manage their medicines independently

I first realised the need for a bridge between pharmacy and remote care when working at NHS Digital, as the lead digital and data advisor for the UK’s first national remote monitoring programme.

It became apparent that there was a lack of support for patients to help them manage their medicines safely at home. There was a desperate need for a bridge to be built between community pharmacists and digital remote care delivery.

This is what motivates my team at CONNECT Care. By building software that helps ‘unlock’ medicines information, we’re working to help connect patients with support and expertise from pharmacists.

This will continue to grow in importance as an increasing number of patients receive care digitally. Without access to personalised guidance on medicines - which only pharmacists can provide - these patients will ultimately be left at risk.

Conclusion

To ensure that digital health truly provides positive outcomes for patients, clinicians and carers alike, we must ensure that the vital elements of pre-digitised healthcare are preserved. While digital health transformation is incredibly positive, we must ensure that there are no cracks through which patients might fall.

Community pharmacy is pivotal to safeguarding patients and delivering effective care. Its expertise-driven, personalised role must be maintained as we adopt new, and increasingly remote, ways of treating the patients in our communities.

Issa Dasu-Patel is CEO of ConnectCare

More For You

Hay fever treatment: Dymista nasal spray now available in pharmacies without prescription

Hay fever affects one in four people in the UK

gettyimages

Hay fever treatment: First OTC combination nasal spray launched

For the first time, a double-action combination treatment for moderate to severe hay fever has been available over the counter across UK pharmacies, offering a new option for those sufferers who remain uncontrolled on a corticosteroid or antihistamine nasal spray.

Launched by global healthcare company Viatris, Dymista® CONTROL (azelastine hydrochloride and fluticasone propionate) nasal spray— previously only available via prescription under the brand name Dymista — can be accessed without a GP visit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nick Kaye
Nick Kaye appointed as NPA's new chair
Nick Kaye appointed as NPA's new chair

Breaking news: NPA members advised against collective action

With the government’s recent announcement of increased funding to the sector signalling a ‘clear step forward’, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has today announced that it will not be recommending collective action to its members.

Last month, the department of health announced the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) with an increase in funding for 2024/25 of £106m to £2.7 billion and simultaneously a further increase to £3.1 billion for 25/26.

Keep ReadingShow less
Slamannan Village Pharmacy sold after 31 years

Slamannan Village Pharmacy

Slamannan Village Pharmacy sold after 31 years

A pharmacy in a small village in Scotland that has served its community for 31 years, has been bought by a group that operates 43 pharmacies across Scotland.

Slamannan Village Pharmacy is heavily relied on by locals sourcing their prescriptions from the village’s sole GP surgery.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kinnock highlights employers’ role in making community pharmacy jobs attractive

The new funding uplift our commitment to rebuilding the sector: Kinnock

Kinnock: ‘Employers have a key role in making community pharmacy jobs attractive’

Health minister Stephen Kinnock has emphasised that employers have a crucial role to play in retaining staff and making careers in community pharmacy more attractive.

His comments came in response to a written question from Victoria Collins MP, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science and technology, who asked what steps the Department of Health and Social Care is taking to address staff shortages and prevent the closure of local pharmacies.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Pope Francis

Pope Francis at the Vatican on December 4, 2024.

Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images

His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj offers condolences to Catholic community following Pope Francis' passing

His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader and president of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), has expressed heartfelt condolences to the Catholic community worldwide following the passing of Pope Francis on Monday.

In a formal letter addressed to the members of the Roman Catholic Church, Mahant Swami Maharaj conveyed the deep sorrow of the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu fellowship, acknowledging the Pope's passing as “a profound loss to the Catholic community and Christians around the world.”

Keep ReadingShow less