Make use of community pharmacists’ skills, says NICE

17 Jan 2020 10:40 AM

Community pharmacy teams have the potential to play a greater role in health promotion and prevention says NICE, in a new draft quality standard.

The quality standard calls for community pharmacy services to be included in existing care and referral pathways. This will allow community pharmacy teams to accept as well as make referrals to the service most appropriate for the person.

People are encouraged to discuss their health and wellbeing with community pharmacy teams. They can ask for information and advice about smoking, alcohol or maintaining a healthy weight.

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive and director of health and social care at NICE, said: “Community pharmacists engage every day with people who buy over-the-counter medicines, collect prescriptions or ask for advice. This is a vital opportunity to support people to maintain good health but also signpost them to other health services.

“Integrating community pharmacies into local care and referral pathways, will offer people effective, convenient and easily accessible services, reduce duplication of work and relieve pressure on the wider health and social care system.”

The quality standard acknowledges that many community pharmacists have good relationships with the local population and an understanding of the physical, economic and social challenges some individuals face. This knowledge could be used to support the most vulnerable members of the community and help to reduce health inequalities, for example providing information tailored to a specific audience, such as in a different language.

This advice supports targets set out in NHS England’s Long-Term plan to make greater use of community pharmacists’ skills and opportunities to engage patients.

The draft quality standard is open for consultation until the 14 February 2020.