RPS
A guide has been published by the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) to encourage the integration of community pharmacy within primary care home models (PCHs), with the aim of improving the health of patients and the management of long-term conditions.
The guide, ‘Primary care home: community pharmacy integration and innovation’, looks at how local pharmaceutical committees, community pharmacies and PCHs can make greater use of pharmacists’ skills.
It focuses on three key roles outlined in the Community Pharmacy Forward View: a facilitator of personalised care for people with long-term conditions, a trusted, convenient first port of call for episodic healthcare advice and treatment, and a neighbourhood health and wellbeing hub.
Alongside this, it proposes a list of actions to inspire PCHs and community pharmacy to collaborate in order to develop innovative solutions to improve services for local communities.
Ash Soni, executive member of the NAPC and president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “Historically, there have sometimes been tensions between pharmacy and general practice on who provides what for patients and public.
“This is an important document to enable pharmacy and general practice to collaborate effectively within primary care homes to provide enhanced care and outcomes to the populations they both serve by recognising the strengths and capabilities of pharmacists and their teams.”
James Kingsland, president of the NAPC, said the association’s aim was to bring all the primary care contractor services together within a PCH to come up with solutions to the current challenges facing the NHS and “make a real difference to patients, improving their health and wellbeing”.
