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"Radical" proposals for better joint working between community pharmacy and general practice have been announced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and National Association of Primary Care.

The consultation document's proposals include the development of schemes to increase collaboration between the two professions as well as a new 'Joint Population Health Framework' that aligns financial incentives for joint working. Potential schemes and programmes include:

• Considering community pharmacy as an NHS access point for minor self-limiting conditions
• Ensuring pharmacists and GPs prioritise support for patients at high risk of a serious health problem, such as the frail elderly or those with multiple long-term conditions
• Encouraging patient-led access to health records by community pharmacy
• Using the opportunity of pharmacists directly employed by general practices to link in with community pharmacy.

NAPC chair Dr Nav Chana said: €It's very encouraging that the focus on greater collaboration between community pharmacy and general practice has been recognised. This is an important enabler for a transformed primary care system that NAPC has supported within its 7-Point Plan for primary care. The opportunities for greater collaboration could have a big impact on the workload pressure for general practice and hence the importance of this consultation at this time.€

Ash Soni, RPS president and NAPC board member, said: €For too long community pharmacy has been straightjacketed with a top-down contract that doesn't allow practitioners like me to redesign our local services in line with the population's needs. It's time to end the one size fits all approach and allow services to be designed around the needs of patients and the public rather than healthcare providers. Working with NAPC we are suggesting that there is a different way of approaching healthcare, where skills and access are designed to meet patient demand. The NHS is looking for new models of care and I believe that we can either be part of the change and look to an enhanced role, or stay as we are and risk being marginalised. More importantly the NHS will miss an opportunity to re-purpose resources which lead to better healthcare services to the public.€

RPS English board chair Sandra Gidley added: €People have been critical of the English Pharmacy Board programme around pharmacists and GPs, saying we haven't done enough to promote the potential for community pharmacy and general practice to work together. However this means pharmacy will need to accept change, and I know this is tough, we're working incredibly hard just to stand still. If we are to move away from the treadmill of dispensing to a role where our clinical skills are recognised and valued by the public then the payment structures we currently work under will need to change. These proposals are designed to test the appetite for that. Do we want to stay as we are or do we want a different role in the reformed NHS? Now it's over to GPs, pharmacists and users of NHS services to let us know what you think.€

The consultation runs until October 9.