Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of better use of pharmacies on the healthcare provision to local communities.

Pharmacies are an important source of care, providing services such as flu jabs, health checks and of course dispensing vital medicines. We are transforming how pharmacists and their teams operate in the community - making the most of their skills to meet urgent medicine needs, treat minor ailments and ensure patients receive the best care. Healthy Living Pharmacies across the country with qualified health champions are demonstrating innovative models of delivery, reaching out to their local communities and making a real difference to people’s health.

To make even greater use of this important asset, the Murray Review of community pharmacy clinical services recommended that NHS England and its national partners should consider how best to support Sustainability and Transformation Plans in integrating community pharmacy into those plans. Public Health England published a menu of preventative interventions for the Sustainability and Transformation Plans in November 2016, which outlined evidence-based public health and preventative interventions that can help to improve the health of the population and reduce health and care services demand in the short to medium term. That menu specifically identified that pharmacy can make a contribution to:

- Cardiovascular disease secondary prevention;

- Improving the management of patients with blood pressure;

- Delivering effective brief advice on physical activity as part of everyday clinical care;

- Raising public awareness about reducing the risk of dementia;

- Providing support to stop smoking; and

- Reducing alcohol consumption and harm through brief advice.