NEWS
VIEWS SOUGHT ON PHARMACY
CONSULTATION Health Minister Simon Hamilton has announced the launch of a public consultation on how regulation of the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland will be delivered in the future.
Explaining his objective to strengthen and modernise regulation of the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland the Minister commented, “The pharmacy profession plays an important and valued role in the delivery of health care in Northern Ireland.
“This will increase in the future given the many new and exciting opportunities that are being developed. The public can be confident that pharmacy professionals and their teams deliver an excellent service to a high professional standard.”
The consultation presents a number of options: • That regulation of the pharmacy profession will continue to be delivered by the Society i.e. as both a regulator and professional leadership body. • That a standalone Northern Ireland regulator is appointed or • To join the current regulatory model operating across the other three UK countries provided by the GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council).
The Minister added, “However I consider that now is the right time to review the current arrangements for pharmacy regulation in Northern Ireland to ensure that we have modern, fit for purpose arrangements that ensure public safety and which carry public confidence.
“I consider that the current
arrangement where the regulation and professional leadership of pharmacy is contained in the same organisation must change.
“The consultation document invites comment on some possible future options. The feedback from this consultation exercise will be an important part of developing the evidence base upon which a decision on the future arrangements can be made.”
The Minister concluded: “I warmly welcome all feedback from those interested in the future regulation of the pharmacy profession in Northern Ireland.”
The consultation closes at 5pm on 14 June 2016 and is available on the department’s website,
www.dhsspsni.gov.uk
4
pharmacyinfocus.co.uk Radical plans for restructuring the HSC
Health Minister Simon Hamilton has detailed progress on his ambitious and radical plans for restructuring the HSC. Following a period of consultation where the Minister outlined a number of reform proposals, there was a clear endorsement for the need to change.
He confirmed that the Board will go, with system level strategic planning and decision making for the bulk of Health and Social Care services passing to the Department rather than the Trusts.
“I still want to see our Trusts take on additional responsibility for care in their areas. I want them to have increasing autonomy. And I want them to be held more accountable for what they do,” he said.
The Minister said: “Last year, I announced my intention to remodel the administrative structures of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland to make them more streamlined and to reduce complexity. I proposed that: • The Health and Social Care Board cease to exist; • The Department would take firmer strategic control of the system; • Trusts would have more responsibility for the planning of care in their areas and have the operational independence to deliver it; and • The Public Health Agency would be retained with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention.
“The response to the recent consultation is a clear endorsement for the need to change.”
the objective of eliminating bureaucracy and aiding innovation, The Minister also explained that he intended to further reduce bureaucracy by giving Trusts greater authority to spend their budgets in order to best maximise the impact for their patients and clients.
He added, “I expect Trusts to be fully accountable for the outcomes that they deliver and to live within the resources that they have. Primary care and the voluntary and community sector play a central and critical role in planning and delivering world class health and social care services, and therefore our re-modelled administrative structures need to enable and underpin the integration which will be so vital in the future.
The Minister continued, “While there is broad agreement that our current structures are too complex, too bureaucratic and too slow to support transformation, there is a concern about where responsibility for commissioning of services will reside in the future after the Board is gone.
“I completely understand these concerns. However I am still convinced that we have too many layers of bureaucracy in our system. So, with
“I am also convinced that bringing performance management for the Trusts into the Department would help improve lines of accountability. I will therefore press ahead with establishing a Performance Directorate within the Department of Health, to keep our Trusts accountable, ensure they meet the targets we set them and make sure they step forward and take responsibility when performance isn’t as we’d expect.
“There is and will be considerable focus on the future administrative structures of our Health and Social Care system. But the most important people in this process are the patients who will benefit from a streamlined Health and Social Care system. These changes will help us achieve our goal of a world class health and social care system.”
Management and Medicines
Pharmacy Management has announced a second partnership with NHS body- the Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) of Northern Ireland
Following on from the partnership with the United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA), Pharmacy Management has just concluded a partnership agreement with the Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) of Northern Ireland.
The two organisations will work together to communicate and promote the development of medicines optimisation throughout the UK and beyond.
The regional innovation centre, which aims to ensure better health outcomes for the population through the consistent delivery of best practice
relating to the use of medicines, was launched at Antrim Area Hospital late last year.
Much has been done in recent years to improve the way medicines are used and Northern Ireland is now recognised as one of the leading regions in Europe in addressing the health and social care needs of the older population through innovation in medicines optimisation.
However, it is felt that more action is needed to gain the best outcomes for patients from their medicines and to ensure clinical effectiveness, whilst both reducing avoidable adverse events and waste.
Chairman of Pharmacy Management, Ted Butler stated, “We are very pleased that Professor Michael Scott and colleagues in Northern Ireland have agreed to become partners
with Pharmacy Management to communicate the benefits and best practice examples of medicines optimisation.
“Pharmacy Management was the first organisation in the UK to develop a national conference for medicines optimisation in November 2012 and we see this partnership as a great opportunity to build on that foundation,”
He added, “We are moving forward to develop with MOIC an initiative for developing Medicines Optimisation in Mental Health and an announcement is due shortly.”
MOIC will be displaying a Poster and be in attendance at the joint Journal of Medicines Optimisation-UKCPA meeting on Diabetes Medicines Optimisation in Manchester on Tuesday 17 May 2016.
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