No stone will be left unturned and it would be naïve to think pharmacy will be untouched

NHS England’s deputy chief pharmacist warned an audience at the Pharmacy Show that NHS cuts are likely to create difficult times for the profession, probably including pharmacy closures.

“The next few years are not going to be painless and pharmacy will feel that pain as much as any other profession. Some will embrace change more rapidly than others but we must ensure that patients and the public are nothing but beneficiaries,” said Dr Bruce Warner (pictured) on October 18.

The NHS was going through a period of significant change, and pharmacy must change too, if it wanted to avoid being left behind. “It’s widely accepted that we have too many pharmacies. Who can justify having lots of pharmacies on the same high street all funded by the NHS?”

But NHS reforms offered great opportunities alongside these challenges. “There’s never been a more exciting time to be a pharmacist. It’s important that we continue to develop as a profession.” As a result of the “staggering” response to the programme to put more pharmacists in GP surgeries, funding would be increased by around 50 per cent.

Avoiding the Cinderella role

Pharmacy had a fundamental role in many aspects of the NHS Five Year Forward View. “But nobody is going to give it to us as a right.” Dr Warner described many of the novel initiatives taking place across the NHS, such as the NHS Vanguards and the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund. “It’s absolutely vital that community pharmacy plays its part in these vanguard models. If this doesn’t happen then the profession may find itself playing the Cinderella role again.”

Dr Warner also described some of the innovative practice that pharmacists around the country are involved in. He singled out Independent Pharmacy Innovation Award winners Jackie and Martyn Lewis for particular praise for their work on cancer care.

A shortage of GPs and nurses, and over-supply of pharmacists, and an education system ripe for reform were creating a “perfect storm” of factors encouraging change. And dispensing hubs managing up to two thirds of prescriptions could free up pharmacists’ time for new roles. “Now is the time to establish pharmacy at the centre of healthcare.”

The £10bn current cost of medicine distribution could not longer be ignored in the NHS drive to find £22bn of efficiencies. “In order to find those efficiencies, no stone will be left unturned and it would be naïve to think pharmacy will be untouched. We can no longer think of medicines in isolation, but as part of a wider package of care.”