Q&A
CLIFF MCELHINNEY, PRESIDENT, ULSTER CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION ON BEHALF OF MEMBERSHIP:
You are currently considering Professor Bengoa’s report. How would you like community- based pharmacy services to be transformed in the north of Ireland in line with his recommendations?
HM: Reconfiguration of Health and Social Care in the north is an important and complex matter and I am therefore taking the time to consider the full implications of the report. I will publish my vision this autumn, alongside the Panel’s report, and aim to begin translating the political and public discussion about reform of health and social care into concrete proposals for transforming these important services. I believe community pharmacy services have a key role in delivering transformation.
CMcE: What technologies would you like to see making a positive impact on community pharmacy services?
QUESTIONS FROM PHARMACISTS:
RAYMOND ANDERSON, ANDERSON PHARMACY, PORTADOWN:
I’d like to know what’s happening with regard to the Electronic Care Record (ECR). If we, as community pharmacists, are going to fulfil the role that has been laid out for us, then we need to have this facility. We were promised it two Health Ministers ago but, to date, nothing has happened. Can we have a definite timescale on this?
HM: An enhanced Emergency Supply Service is currently being piloted with community pharmacies. This service enables a patient to obtain an urgent supply of their regular prescription medicines whenever they are unable to obtain a prescription to fulfil their next dose.
As part of this pilot, with effect from July 2016 four community pharmacies in Ballymena have been successfully linked to the ECR and ten individual pharmacists have
HM: The Health and Social Care Board, in conjunction with the Business Services Organisation, is currently leading an e-pharmacy project with the aim of completing, by March 2017, an Outline Business Case for an e-pharmacy strategy for community pharmacy. There are a number of strands to the project but key priorities will include scoping the potential for:
• Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP);
• Electronic two-way messaging between community pharmacists and other parts of the health and social care system; and
• Providing community pharmacies with access and input into elements of the Electronic Health & Care Record.
CMcE: Integrated working in healthcare has been hailed as a success and the natural way forward in achieving better outcomes in a patient-centred approach. How would you see this approach being extended?
been provided with ECR accounts. Patients are guided through the consent process and have full control over access by the pharmacist to their medicines record to support provision of the Emergency Supply Service. The pilot will allow the ECR- enabled pharmacies to investigate the technical and information governance challenges, so that the potential for extending ECR usage to community pharmacies more widely can be assessed.
The pilot is due to complete in September 2016. If it is decided to extend it, the possibility of extending the ECR access sub-pilot will also be considered. This may involve bringing additional pharmacies on board, to increase the potential for patient and pharmacist feedback.
PATRICK KENNEDY, KENNEDY’S PHARMACY, RASHARKIN AND DUNLOY:
Our team at Kennedy’s Pharmacy in Rasharkin and Dunloy has always endeavoured to give the best possible service to our local community. I have been planning to make a considerable
HM: This year, a five-year initiative was launched that will place pharmacists in GP practices. Having a pharmacist as part of the clinical team within a practice will not only improve the quality and safety of prescribing for better patient outcomes but will also relieve work pressure on GPs, freeing up time for the GP to spend with patients with more complex medical needs.
This is an important component of my Department’s Medicines Optimisation Quality Framework and will help provide the best possible outcomes for patients from medicines by involving pharmacists in their care in the primary care setting. The deployment of practice based pharmacists will support a more integrated approach to medicines optimisation that will enhance the strong relationships and levels of cooperation that currently exist between GPs and pharmacists in hospital and community sectors
The ‘Making it Better through Pharmacy in the Community’ strategy has identified the potential benefits of a registration scheme where
investment in my business in the near future so that we can provide further enhanced and expanded services. What assurances and confidence can you as Health Minister give me that I will be able to repay this investment? I ask this particularly in view of the absence of an as yet agreed community pharmacy contract and the ongoing uncertainty about the continuation of the
Rural Support payments.
HM: I recognise the vital role played by community pharmacy. Pharmacy contractors are operating businesses and need to consider whether any investments are both realistic and cost effective. As part of my vision for an effective and efficient health care system, I would like to see the establishment of new contractual arrangements with community pharmacists to support improvements in the health of the population.
In relation to the Rural Support payments, HSCB conducted a pilot which provided additional funding targeted at a number of pharmacies with low dispensing
patients would be registered to a specific pharmacy. The aim is to utilise the skills of community pharmacists as part of the broader health care team in aligning pharmaceutical interventions with individual patient needs and outcomes. The potential benefits of a registration scheme will be further explored as part of the e-pharmacy project and considered as part of the establishment of any new contractual arrangements.
CMcE: In light of the contribution that pharmacy makes to the local economy in terms of employment and healthcare provision, do you believe that this contribution is reflected in the current level of
funding for the profession?
HM: My Department considers the current levels of remuneration for community pharmacy contractors sufficient to meet statutory objectives. It is the Department’s intention to ensure that progress is maintained on work to inform the financial envelope for community pharmacy. This will also inform the development of the new community pharmacy contractual arrangements.
activity to identify if additional services and benefits would be provided for patients from rural areas. The results of the pilot are informing a revised scheme.
SHEELIN MCKEAGNEY, MCKEAGNEYS CHEMISTS, LURGAN:
Building the Community Pharmacy Partnership (BCPP) has been very successful in bringing together community pharmacists and local communities using a community development strategy to improve outcomes for populations accessing these services. What plans do you have to support, develop and enhance this way of working?
HM: I recognise the value of the BCPP approach and I am encouraged to see the development of Health + Pharmacy accreditation which recognises the potential of pharmacy and their staff within local communities. I look forward to seeing the synergy develop between Health + Pharmacy and BCPP which will no doubt create added benefits to patients and the public.
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