Pharmacy

(asked on 24th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the effectiveness of the community pharmacy sector to help reduce the demand on (a) primary and (b) secondary care.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 13th July 2020

The funding for National Health Service pharmaceutical services provided by community pharmacies in England was set at £2.592 million a year until 2023/24 through the five-year deal; a total of nearly £13 billion. The deal contains an annual review to ensure that the services commissioned under the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF) remain within that financial envelope.

The five-year deal, published by the Department in July 2019, sets out an expanded role for community pharmacy across prevention, urgent care and medicine safety. It will provide accessible and convenient healthcare, allowing people to quickly access a much wider range of services and health advice, in the heart of their community, relieving pressure on general practitioner (GP) practices and other parts of the health service, including secondary care.

In October 2019, we launched the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, which refers people with minor illness and urgent medicine needs direct from NHS 111 to community pharmacy as the first port of call. Pilots are currently running on expanding this successful service to include referrals from GP practices. We will evaluate these pilots and, if positive, negotiate new service specifications into both the CPCF and the GP contract.

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