BUDGET


aS dEtaIlS arE rElEaSEd of thE MonEY aVaIlaBlE for northErn IrEland’S hEalthcarE for 2018/19, WE aSk YoU for YoUr VIEWS on thIS lESS-than-IMPrESSIVE BUdgEt…


Shortfall – long story! n


orthern Ireland’s budget for 2018/19 was recently released. the budget –


which, in light of the absence of a Stormont assembly - has been organised from Westminster, includes £410m of the £1bn package negotiated by the dUP in return for backing the conservatives.


on the positive side, the dUP’s Sammy Wilson announced that £100m would be allocated from the health transformational fund to enable investment in reforms within hospitals and he’s estimating that this should lead to better and more efficient services as well as future savings.


the problem is, however, that, while the department of health has received a 2.6 per cent increase in real terms, given that cost pressures are increasing at an even greater rate, it’s estimated that there remains a shortfall of £160m.


Since, in order to stay ‘as we were’ the minimum requirement was a six per cent increase, the 2.6 per cent increase means that there will have to be further disinvestment in the nI health Service.


to ascertain the general view of this latest budget, Pif carried out a ‘voxpop’ with a selection of you from different parts of northern Ireland, and from different community settings. Where, we asked, should the money that is available be used – particularly in terms of pharmacy?


Should it, we asked, be used, for example, for service design? or should it be simply used to support the current status quo and plug any holes?


Shane O’Hare, Strangford Pharmacy the structure of the financing of community pharmacy in nI is


outdated and not fit for purpose. I believe that any extra funds should be used to prop up the creaking fabric of community pharmacy especially in rural areas and areas of social deprivation. these pharmacies have individual challenges both professionally and financially and should receive the necessary support from the department of health.


the baseline funding for all contractors should be raised to an acceptable level and funds should be made available for extending MUrs, minor ailments, and the design of


report clearly showing the monies required to operate a viable community pharmacy service in northern Ireland, three further recent cuts have been implemented, namely proprietary mitigation, rural access support and category M drug tariff adjustments.


from a personal point of view, I have two rural pharmacies and we currently find the financial pressures and level of uncertainty akin to those experienced in 2011. It is imperative that rural community pharmacies are kept open; for example, one of our


As a pharmacist, I want to


deliver the best possible service to our patients but feel we are being restricted and inhibited from doing so due to the financial constraints and pressures at the moment


future services. the 'new Services' (ie, chronic Medication Service) that we've been promised for years, their design, their funding and their roll- out; all of these steps are crucial to the development of community pharmacy in northern Ireland.


Patrick Kennedy, Kennedys Chemist, Rasharkin now that the cost of Service Inquiry has been completed as required following the judicial review process, it is quite clear that the position on community pharmacy funding as argued by cPnI has been vindicated.


therefore, immediate steps should be taken to reimburse community pharmacy with the monies owed over the years from the cuts in 2011. despite this publication of the coSI


pharmacies is the only healthcare facility in the village of dunloy (population 1215 in the village alone at the last census) and it is unthinkable that pharmacies such as these should be allowed to disappear or have to reduce their level of service to their patients.


as a pharmacist, I want to deliver the best possible service to our patients but feel we are being restricted and inhibited from doing so due to the financial constraints and pressures at the moment. I would urge the department of health to reverse the cuts recently implemented and engage urgently with cPnI to get a new and fair "community Pharmacy contract agreed and implemented urgently.


Jonathan Lloyd, The Health Centre Pharmacy, Carrickfergus Plugging holes is not an option for the health service any more. the service needs redesigned if it is to continue into the future.


as gP federations develop and gPs take on more workload from secondary care such as elective care reform, the current man power crisis within general practice is only going to worsen. community pharmacy is well placed to alleviate some of the pressures on general practice and some of the money should be used for community pharmacy integration and service development.


If community pharmacists were better integrated and connected into the Ecr, services such as long term disease management, flu vaccination, stop smoking, travel health, minor ailments, medication review, could all be delivered by the local community pharmacy network.


however the community pharmacy network needs to provide a solution to integrate with other providers and only then can it be effectively utilised as an asset for the local population.


Turlough Hamill, Hamill’s Pharmacy, Portadown In my opinion, fresh money must be invested in pharmacy. at the very minimum, it is essential to correct the significant underfunding highlighted in the cost of service enquiry, but there is an opportunity for brave choices to be made around service delivery. community pharmacy has the skill set and willingness to deliver novel services to provide very real solutions to many of the current issues within the health service. We are extremely cost effective at delivering our expertise and can offer real value for money. In short, a new pharmacy contract must be part of a greater funding review.


PharMacY In focUS - 61


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