Claire Fuller to take stock of community pharmacy in primary care view

Members of the NHS team running a ‘stocktake’ of how primary care is currently engaged in local systems met with community pharmacy representatives this week, at a roundtable organised by the National Pharmacy Association.

Discussions ranged across prevention, urgent and complex care and will feed into the ‘Fuller Stocktake’ – a review of how primary care (including community pharmacies) can best be supported within the emergent integrated care systems (ICS) to meet the health needs of people in their local areas.

Professor Claire Fuller, who is overseeing the stocktake which bears her name, said: “This roundtable brought together pharmacy leaders and other experts to inform the stocktake, focusing on practical next steps ICSs can take as they assume a statutory footing from July. We’re delighted that the National Pharmacy Association is helping to engage its members and the wider sector in this process.”

NHS England and NHS Improvement Director Gina Naguib-Roberts, who took part in the roundtable, said: “There was real power in what people said at this event. We covered an enormous amount of ground and heard some incredible case studies which help to lift people’s eyes and show what is possible. We don’t want to leave it to chance that community pharmacy is in the right conversations within ICSs.”

The NPA’s Local Integration Lead, Michael Lennox, said: “The Fuller team wanted to know what is needed from system leaders to fully engage community pharmacy in planning and delivery at a local level. Just as importantly, they need to know what pharmacy representatives can contribute to this objective.

“We went into detail about enablers such as data, leadership development, training opportunities and IT interoperability. This whole process is about finding solutions together and effecting change – not only visioning the future but also making it happen in a very practical sense.”

Those attending this week’s event included pharmacy bodies, NHS England officials and the NHS Confederation.

Meanwhile, pharmacists, pharmacy teams and “anyone with good ideas of knowledge of effective practice” is invited to join the conversation at #FullerStocktake and www.fullerstocktake.crowdicity.com/hubbub/communitypage/120958.

The ‘Fuller Stocktake’, commissioned by NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, will review how primary care networks can be best supported within ICSs, with the aim to ensure that primary care remains the lynchpin of community-facing healthcare.

About 1.6 million people visit a pharmacy every day in England, and many are open for long hours when other healthcare services are unavailable. As such, they are a vital component of primary care, particularly in deprived areas.

Later this Spring, the stocktake team will make recommendations directly to NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard.

A practicing GP since 1995 and highly respected ICS leader, Professor Claire Fuller is also a member of the ICJ Advisory Board. The Advisory Board oversees our content pipeline, ensuring that our content is insightful, practical and credible. The board is made up of some the country’s leading health and care experts and features system leaders at the very forefront of UK integrated care.