Terminating pharmacy blood pressure checks would be ‘terribly shortsighted’- says NPA chair

GP leaders say pharmacy blood pressure checks generate more work for the practice

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has lashed out at the British Medical Association (BMA) after GP leaders voted in favour of the motion to terminate pharmacy blood pressure checks with immediate effect and redirect the funds into pharmacy dispensing fees.

Commenting on the BMA’s vote, NPA chair Nick Kaye said: "It benefits no-one, least of all patients, for one set of health care professionals to talk down the services provided by another.”

He emphasised the importance of investment and collaboration across the healthcare system, particularly between general practice and community pharmacies, to provide the best possible care for patients.

Furthermore, Kaye stressed the value of pharmacy-based NHS clinical services in improving access to care, while also providing more convenient care for patients and relieving pressure on other parts of primary care.

"It would be terribly shortsighted to row back on preventative services such as hypertension case finding, which will be cost-saving as well as lifesaving in the long term,” he warned.

He noted that the NHS will only meet the growing needs and expectations of the ageing population by making the most of capacity and skills across the whole system.

"Pharmacists want to be team players, with all professions in primary and secondary care respecting each other's skills and working together in the interests of patients,” Kaye added.

At the BMA annual conference of England LMC Representatives on Friday (November 22), concerns were also raised regarding the impact of Pharmacy First on workload and antibiotic stewardship within the general practice.

The conference urged the general practitioners committee (GPC) to “assess the workload that Pharmacy First shifts both away from, and back to general practice” and called for “a clear assessment of the scheme to follow guidelines on prescribing and ensure appropriate antibiotic stewardship.”

However, the GPs recognised the necessity of community pharmacy and demanded that NHS England funds their “core work of dispensing appropriately.”

They also stressed that “the increasing tendency of NHS England to pit general practice and community pharmacy against each other in zero-sum games for scant funding” must be stopped.