The Primary Care Pharmacists Association has launched ‘A Guide for GPs Employing a Practice Pharmacist’.

Endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, free copies of the guide are available to download from the PCPA website. The guide explains the value that a practice pharmacist can bring to a GP surgery, what to look for in a practice pharmacist, methods of recruitment and types of employment, as well as giving some example job descriptions.

“The PCPA has been contacted by many GPs asking for help, guidance and support in the employment of a practice pharmacist,” said Ravi Sharma, chair of the PCPA Practice Pharmacist Group and lead practice pharmacist at DMC Healthcare. “This short guide will hopefully both encourage and support GPs in the employment of a practice pharmacist. In my practices we have shown that by having a pharmacist as part of the practice team, we can all work together in collaboration to improve patient health outcomes and deliver higher-quality care.”

GP Dr Jane Muir-Taylor said: "By having a pharmacist on our team, we have been able to reduce waiting times for appointments, improve patient health outcomes, increase access to healthcare, improve screening and diagnosis of chronic and common ailments, reduce A&E admissions and attendances, reduce medicines wastage and overuse, and overall, improve patient safety regarding use of their medicines”.