Over 80 pharmacists attended a Royal Pharmaceutical Society learning event on pioneering plans to devolve £6bn of the healthcare budget for Greater Manchester.

The pharmacists heard from service directors, NHS clinical leads and local pharmacy bodies earlier this month about opportunities being presented by the ‘Devo Manc’ project. Through the example of the Manchester model they learnt how pharmacists can get involved in helping shape the future of localism and commissioning agendas in the healthcare sector. At the event held at Manchester University, they also learnt about what would be expected from the profession if Devo Manc is replicated in other parts of the country.

Devo Manc increases the resources available to Greater Manchester across its full range of strategic priorities, including health and social care, both directly through additional funding and indirectly through greater influence over national and other programmes. It combines the budget of the NHS with that of social care and moves decisions on spending from national to local structures. The change will impact on how NHS services are delivered locally including pharmacy and hospital care.

RPS English Pharmacy Board chair Sandra Gidley (pictured) said: “The Royal Pharmaceutical Society sees its role as empowering pharmacists locally to ensure they are fully informed about healthcare developments, especially those that offer exciting new opportunities for the profession alongside improved patient care. The integration of healthcare services through Devolution Manchester is potentially groundbreaking. What happens here may prove to be so successful in terms of patient treatment outcomes that the model is replicated in other parts of the country. We want to ensure that pharmacists get in on the ground floor and are able to help shape new services. We also want to ensure they are fully informed and equipped to meet any challenges they bring.”

Speaking at the event, Wigan Council’s director of public health Professor Kate Ardern described how partnership working between the council, the NHS and community pharmacies, through Healthy Living Pharmacies, is already playing a huge role in improving the health and wellbeing of people in Greater Manchester. She said: "In Wigan Borough we believe that community pharmacies are a key resource for many borough residents, from those who lead an active, working life to individuals suffering from long term conditions, local pharmacies can be a more appropriate and readily accessible place to receive healthcare than a hospital or GP surgery.”

Peter Marks, chair of Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester (CPGM) said: “CPGM, on behalf of the seven Greater Manchester Local Pharmaceutical Committees, aims to ensure that the currently underused resource of nearly 700 community pharmacies becomes fully utilised within the devolution agenda and as such becomes an integral part of the delivery of healthcare to the population of Greater Manchester.”