Pharmacists' roles are continually evolving to include providing direct care to patients as members of a multidisciplinary team. They play a key role in medicines optimisation, helping to reduce medication errors and have been well recognised for the ensuring safe and effective supply of medicines to patients (Baqir et al, 2015).
As part of this role expansion, pharmacies in England can now register their interest in providing the new Community Pharmacist Consultation Service. This will allow pharmacists to receive referrals from 111 for urgent medicines and minor illnesses. This is a great step forward in alleviating some of the pressure on A&E services and GP surgeries.
Furthermore, NHS England has announced that more pharmacies in England will offer free ECGs and blood pressure and cholesterol checks. The NHS is also in talks with the MHRA about how they can provide statins over-the-counter instead of by prescription. However, the Royal College of GPs have concerns about making statins more easily accessible due to the risks of over-diagnosis and over-treatment. These plans are all part of a programme to help the NHS deliver its commitment to prevent 100 000 heart attacks and strokes over the next 10 years (NHS, 2019) and will be funded as part of a £13billion 5-year contract for community pharmacies (BBC, 2019).
While role expansion can be seen as a good thing, without adequate support, pharmacists will not be able to carry out these extra services. The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) recently conducted a survey of pharmacists working in GP practices to assess how the primary care landscape has changed. It found that 20% of the respondents felt they were not ‘adequately supported’ with training and supervision in their role. The reasons cited for this inadequate support included a ‘lack of integration’ into practices – particularly when working across more than one – as well as a ‘lack of GP support or understanding as to the need for supervision’ (PDA, 2019). Funding for clinical supervision and access to training were also factors, according to the report.
However, the survey did report that of 740 respondents, 80% agreed that, ‘the wider team at the practice(s) where they worked perceived their role as providing leadership on medicines-related services and prescribing’, and 78% felt that they were regarded as the ‘expert in medicines’ by patients (PDA, 2019).
It is such positive news that the NHS is recognising the valuable contribution of pharmacists, but it is important that they are not used as a substitute for other professions. We don't want to have a crisis of pharmacist numbers too.