NEWS
GPs warn of closures amidst funding calls
NHS England has announced a £112m investment in new roles for pharmacists in general practice as part of a wider initiative to improve primary care for patients.
They have committed to enable every practice in England to access a pharmacist across a minimum population on average of 30,000 - leading to an extra 1,500 pharmacists in general practice over the next five years.
The funding is part a five-year plan to help GP surgeries "get back on their feet" and to improve access for patients.
The rescue package will see an extra £2.4bn a year ploughed into services by 2020 - a rise of 14% once inflation is taken into account.
The Royal College of GPs in Northern Ireland want similar action to be taken in Northern Ireland and have stated that without funding, it is likely more rural practices will close.
The England investment is on top of the existing £31m investment by NHS England to co-fund around 450 pharmacist roles in general practice. NHS England have stated that “appetite for the original pilot scheme was high.”
Although there is more to learn from the evaluation, early indications suggest surgery based pharmacists may have a role in streamlining practice prescription processes, medicines optimisation, minor ailments and long term conditions management.
Pharmacists in GP surgeries will be able to support better working
between GP’s, hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists and the transfer of patient care.
NHS England have committed to roll this out further across the country over the next five years, so that every practice can benefit from the clinical skills of a pharmacist.
Importantly NHS England will also open up the pharmacist training programme for practice based pharmacists to practices that have directly funded a pharmacist themselves.
RCGP Northern Ireland chairperson, Dr John O'Kelly, said the announcement in England was "a huge step in the right direction and should lead to significant benefits for patients across the water.
"If we had a comparable investment here we would more or less solve our problems," he said.
"It would lead to a vast improvement in the ability of family doctors to provide the standard of care that local communities and patients deserve.
“For too long, GPs have been undervalued, underfunded, and not recognised for the essential role we play in keeping the health service sustainable and safe for patients.
"If we don't address the problems facing general practice we will start to see practices closing.
“In many ways rural general practice is the canary in the mine. They are the ones that are going to go first and we're already starting to see difficulties there."
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