Public Health England is considering a self-assessment process for Healthy Living Pharmacy accreditation in an attempt to double the number of HLPs and those en-route to accreditation by next April.

The Pharmacy and Public Health Forum and the HLP Task Group has recommended that a profession-led self-assessment process for HLP Level One status, with underpinning quality criteria and a governance framework, would enable more pharmacies to become accredited. Level One status would be about pro-active health and wellbeing advice provision, with the enablers in place and satisfaction of quality criteria, but with no commissioned services. HLP Level Two and Three status would continue to be commissioner-led, with services commissioned to meet local need.

Prof Kevin Fenton, PHE national director for health and wellbeing, pictured speaking at a conference on November 6, announced that PHE had accepted the recommendation in principle, but details of quality criteria and compliance with a self-assessment process were still being finalised. It had recommended a phased implementation with the new system going live in April 2016, Prof Fenton told the 'Community Pharmacy Improving the Public's Health in England conference.

Around 1,850 pharmacies were accredited or en-route to accreditation last summer, according to a PHE survey, with 3,000 health champions reaching out to local communities, businesses and colleges. PHE wants to double these numbers by next April.

The HLP framework had been in existence since 2010 and this was an appropriate time to review whether changes needed to be made to the existing framework, said Prof Fenton. The current route to implementation for all levels of HLP is commissioner-led, but the new proposals were the way forward to accelerate rollout.