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Pharmacy bodies are calling on the profession to embrace the opportunities to expand its role following the publication of a new five-year plan for the NHS. 

Launched last month by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens, the ‘Five Year Forward View’ (5YFV) outlines how healthcare services in England need to change over the next five years to meet the challenges of an ageing population and help close a £30 billion funding gap.

Developed by six NHS organisations, including Monitor, Health Education England, the NHS Trust Development Authority, Public Health England, the Care Quality Commission and NHS England, 5YFV proposes various new models of care between which different local health communities will be given the flexibility to choose.

The document highlights key areas for action, including improving prevention and public health, making services more patient-centred, breaking down barriers between services and improving urgent care – all of which present important opportunities for pharmacy, say the profession’s leaders.

Prevention and public health

Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice, has responded favourably to the plan’s focus on tackling “the root causes of ill health” through action on obesity, alcohol, smoking and other risky health behaviours.

He pointed out that pharmacy has a “proven track record” in providing preventative services like smoking cessation, weight management and health checks, and called on NHS commissioners to look at “community pharmacy’s reach into [deprived] communities, including the unregistered population”.

“The network of community pharmacy bucks the inverse care law, and our neighbourhood reach should be properly recognised as an asset,” he said.

Better integration

The 5YFV emphasises the need to better integrate health and social care services as an important way of empowering patients to take greater control over their care. One option given is the formation of multispeciality community providers, in which groups of GPs, nurses, pharmacists and other community service providers deliver outpatient services alongside hospital specialists and mental and social care.

David Branford, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s English Pharmacy Board, urged pharmacy as “the third largest health profession in the National Health Service” to ensure that it was involved in these new integrated models of care.

“Instead of thinking I am a hospital pharmacist, or I am a community pharmacist, pharmacists need to see themselves as players within the local health community and adapt their roles accordingly,” he said.

Mr Branford encouraged community pharmacy teams to look at their “current roles and skill mix” and think “creatively about how they can work alongside GPs and other service providers such as care homes”, while Mr Darracott called for “greater co-operation and signposting across the community of care, which includes health, social care, housing, local authority and education.”

The right care

To reduce pressures on GPs and hospitals and ensure that patients receive “the right care, at the right times in the right place”, 5YFV stresses the need to raise public awareness of pharmacy’s expertise in managing minor ailments. 

Pharmacy organisations have welcomed this recognition and expressed the hope that it will help pave the way towards a national pharmacy-based common ailments service, which, according to a recent RPS study, could save the NHS an extra £1.1 billion per year.

The research, which was carried out at the University of Aberdeen, calculated the cost of treating complaints like coughs and colds through pharmacy at just £29.30 per patient, compared with £82.34 at a general practice and £147.09 at an A&E department.

RPS president Ash Soni said: “People must be able to get the same service from a pharmacy wherever they live, rather than the current ‘hit and miss’ approach which drives patients straight back to overburdened A&E and GP services.”

Further opportunities

Sue Sharpe, chief executive of PSNC, welcomed further priorities outlined in the 5YFV, which could provide opportunities for pharmacy to expand its roles, such as moves to speed up innovation, IT developments and record sharing. “There are certainly challenges ahead, but the 5YFV confirms that the NHS views pharmacy as an integral part of its future plans,” she said.

While some may be disappointed that the report fails to fully grasp pharmacy’s potential within an integrated NHS, David Branford said that “the barriers are finally coming down.”