The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is encouraging pharmacists to feed into an NHS review of integrated primary care, ahead of Integrated Care Systems becoming statutory bodies in July.
Dr Claire Fuller, who is leading the nationwide ‘stocktake’ of how primary care is currently engaged in local systems has said her team will take part in a forthcoming NPA roundtable on community pharmacy integration.
The ‘Fuller Stocktake’ is expected to report later in the Spring and will provide recommendations directly to NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard. It will consider how primary care (including community pharmacy) can be best supported within the emergent Integrated Care Systems to meet the health needs of people in their local areas.
Dr Claire Fuller (pictured right) said: “We want to focus on the practical next steps ICSs can take as they assume a statutory footing from July. We are looking at the whole of primary care including community pharmacies, so it’s great that the NPA has offered to help engage its members and the wider sector in this process.”
“We are eager to hear a wide range of views about how to seize this opportunity to ensure integrated primary care is at the heart of ICSs. We need your help to identify pockets of fantastic good practice already happening across the country.”
NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said: “This is an opportunity to feed in, at a senior level of NHS management, experiences of community pharmacy integration at a local level. Local NHS systems need to be made aware of what is working and what is not working so well, so that expectations can be properly established from the outset, and good practice shared.”
Working groups have been established to consider six themes, and the NPA has helped to ensure community pharmacy representation on each of them: Creating the right environment (for working together), People (workforce), Access (physical and non-physical), Working with communities, Governance and Data (for improving population health).
Pharmacists, pharmacy teams and “anyone with good ideas of knowledge of effective practice” is invited to join the conversation at #FullerStocktake and https://fullerstocktake.crowdicity.com/