GP pharmacist federations could be the future

Released 02/07/2009

Report calls for closer working partnerships between GPs and community pharmacists

The NHS must find innovative solutions to the challenge of enabling closer working between GPs and community pharmacists, according to a new analysis published today by the School of Pharmacy, University of London in partnership with Boots.

Better Practices, Better Health says tht without such progress the NHS may not be able to make both service quality improvements and the productivity gains it needs to achieve.

The reports author Professor David Taylor said: "After 2011, the NHS is unlikely to enjoy significant growth in its real overall spending for several years. We will have to make better use of existing resources and focus more on effective preventative measures - including life style changes and safe and affordable medicine taking - to go on improving health outcomes. More effective joint working by community pharmacists and GPs and their practice colleagues will be essential for this. Without it, counterproductive rivalries between community pharmacy and GPs would leave patient needs unmet and the professionals involved vulnerable."

The report highlights pharmacist led Medicine Use Reviews and NHS Health Checks for vascular disease risks as examples of areas where the effective co-ordination and targeting of complementary GP and pharmacist services is needed. Unnecessary duplication of tests or poor communication of findings thorough lack of computer record linkages can inconvenience service users and waste NHS resources.

It concludes that both competition and co-operation are needed to meet patient and community needs. Closer working within the primary care system could be achieved in a number of ways, including:

• creating shared financial incentives which reward both pharmacies and GP practices when they work efficiently together to deliver good quality care;
• using IT links between GPs and pharmacists for exchanging (with patient permission) screening and treatment information, in order to enhance care standards and increase both cost effectiveness and safety;
• promoting premises sharing and linked new practice models which encourage ‘joined up care' and easier patient access to services. One option is for GP practices to be based in pharmacy owned and managed premises, as well as in other types of health centre.

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