The Committee’s independent Expert
Panel evaluating Government commitments on pharmacy has
found that overall progress ‘requires improvement’ across a
number of areas.
Evidence shows that demand for community pharmacy services
has increased significantly with community pharmacies struggling
to deliver services within the existing funding model, or even to
remain open.
Community pharmacy was one of five policy areas examined by the
Panel along with integrated care, hospital pharmacy, workforce
education and training, and extended services. Experts found that
available funding was not sufficient to keep pharmacies
open, struggling financially with increased demand for
dispensing, workforce pressures and rising costs due to
inflation. One of the other commitments requiring improvement
covered a scheme intended to protect access to local
physical NHS pharmaceutical services in areas where there were
fewer pharmacies.
A commitment by Government to eliminate paper prescribing in
hospitals and introduce digital or e-prescribing across the
entire NHS by 2024 was rated ‘inadequate’ overall. Experts
found that poor ‘digital maturity’ was partly responsible
and reported that even prioritised funding for IT systems was
insufficient.
On workforce education and training, the report ranks a
government commitment to roll out a three-year education and
training programme for primary care and community pharmacy
professionals as requiring improvement, with providers
unable to afford to pay to backfill staff sent on courses. A
commitment to make legislative changes to improve the skill
mix in pharmacies and enable the clinical integration of
pharmacists has not been delivered and was rated ‘inadequate’
overall.
Out of nine commitments separately evaluated over five
areas, two were rated as ‘good’, five as ‘requires improvement’
and two were ‘inadequate’.
Please see page 11 of attached Expert Panel’s Report
for detailed ratings in evaluation
Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the
Expert Panel, said:
“Pharmacy plays a key role in the delivery of care so it’s
disappointing that progress overall to deliver on the
Government’s commitments was rated as ‘requires
improvement’.
“We’ve found community pharmacies to be at particular risk with
the existing funding model unable to prevent some high street
pharmacies facing closure and others struggling to provide
services in the face of rising demand and increasing costs.
“A Government pledge to move entirely to digital or
e-prescribing across the NHS by the end of 2024 was overly
ambitious. We found inadequate progress in the delivery of this
commitment due to the lack of joined-up digital infrastructure in
the NHS and Social Care.
“On workforce, the Government has made no headway with a
commitment to better integrate pharmacists within a clinical team
with progress rated again as inadequate. When it comes to
training and education, we looked at a commitment to roll
out a new three-year education and training programme for
community and primary care professionals, unfortunately there was
insufficient funding available to send staff on courses.”
ENDS
, Chair of the Health and
Social Committee, said:
“This report from our Expert Panel
makes for sobering reading. The Committee is
holding a separate inquiry considering what the future of
pharmacy could look like because there’s real
potential for innovative work and to truly see
community pharmacy at least as part of the primary care model.
“Success will rest on resolving challenges around
funding, the digital infrastructure, and
crucially, workforce skills and training.
“The level of detail about progress by
the Government so far will feed into our work
and, ultimately, help shape the recommendations we make
to Ministers.”
ENDS
Expert Panel Chaired
by: Professor
Dame Jane Dacre, Emeritus Professor of Medical
Education at University College London, a consultant physician
and rheumatologist, and a former President of the Royal College
of Physicians. More information about the work of the Expert
Panel available here.
