{"id":4558,"date":"2023-06-22T15:59:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T15:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/integratedcarejournal.com\/?p=4558"},"modified":"2023-07-03T13:54:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T13:54:14","slug":"pharmacies-30m-gp-appointments-company-chemists-association","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/integratedcarejournal.com\/pharmacies-30m-gp-appointments-company-chemists-association\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacies could free up more than 30m GP appointments, Company Chemists\u2019 Association says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from the Company Chemists\u2019 Association (CCA), whose members include Asda, Boots, LloydsPharmacy, Morrisons, Rowlands Pharmacy and Superdrug, has urged the government to be bolder in its plans to expand pharmacy services, announced in May as part of its Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Included within the Department of Health and Social Care\u2019s (DHSC) plans is \u00a3645m to enable the expansion of pharmacy services in England over two years, intended to help relieve pressure on GPs \u2013 including an approach it dubs Pharmacy First.<\/p>\n

This includes ambitions for community pharmacies to be able to supply prescription-only medicines for seven minor health conditions (Pharmacy First), increase their provision of the oral contraception and blood pressure testing services, and the delivery of improved IT system connectivity between general practice and community pharmacy in England.<\/p>\n

The measures are expected to free up an additional 10 million GP appointments per year once scaled \u2013 equivalent to around 3 per cent of all appointments \u2013 but the CCA have urged the government to move faster and be \u201cbolder\u201d in their plans and accelerate plans to train pharmacists in England to act as \u2018independent prescribers.<\/p>\n

By their own estimates, the CCA expect the plans for Pharmacy First will free up around 6m appointments annually. They estimate that a more ambitious Pharmacy First service could free up 30m+ GP appointments per year, five times as many as in the government’s current plans.<\/p>\n

In their new report, Pharmacy first and independent prescribing<\/em><\/a>, the CCA argue that giving community pharmacy additional capability to supply non-prescription medicines and additional prescription-only medicines is a necessary and urgent step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are an estimated 23,000 pharmacists currently in England without independent prescriber qualifications. A simple extrapolation of the plans currently in place indicate that it will take until 2040 to train the entire workforce. We need 95 per cent of community pharmacists to be trained as independent prescribers by 2030,\u201d said Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA.<\/p>\n

The CCA argue that their recommendations would effectively create 11,000 urgent care centres in England. With an estimated 90 per cent of the population located within a 20-minute walk of a local pharmacy, they believe that a \u201cPharmacy First\u201d approach could transform access to care and help address under-provision of clinical services in certain areas. They say, for example, that \u201cambitious commissioning could position pharmacies as the \u2018go-to\u2019 place for urgent and emergency care\u201d.<\/p>\n

Alongside the expansion of prescribing capabilities and certain clinical services, the CCA are also calling for:<\/p>\n