10-year plan ‘not as innovative’ as it seems

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan is ‘not as innovative’ as many suggest, said board member of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), Ian Strachan, at The Pharmacy Show.

Speaking during a panel on what the 10-year plan means for pharmacy, Mr Strachan rated the plan a five out of 10 and said he only believed 10% of it would be delivered.

Funding remains a major issue, he added, and all the ‘fancy ideas’ in the plan are only going to ‘choke up the system’.

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Chief executive officer of the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), Malcom Harrison, agreed. While there were many mentions of community pharmacy in the plan, he also said there was ‘nothing new’. He felt it is a ‘continuation’ of previous plans rather than the radical reform that the government promised.

‘Everyone is looking at this plan and thinking, how is that going to fix the problems of today? What we need to think about is, is it going to fix the problems in 10 years?’ he added.

The increase in workload does not match the increase in workforce, he said, and pharmacists can anticipate a huge labour shortage within the next decade which the plan fails to address.

Janet Morison, chief executive officer of Community Pharmacy England (CPE) criticised the lack of detail in the plan. While she was supportive of pharmacist’s role in it, she also said it didn’t specify what the priorities are.

‘Our foundations are crumbling’ she added, ‘and there are going to be some really hard choices’ to be made’ which the profession must be united on.

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A common theme during the panel was the need for more funding, or ‘headroom to invest’ as Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) described it. If the government wants pharmacies to invest in more clinical services, better digital integration, and improved premises, they need to provide adequate funding, he said.

Pharmacists are currently ‘squeezed dry’ and lack the bandwidth to provide these services.

Ms Morrison also expressed a desire for more collaboration between the different pharmacy bodies and across primary care.

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‘I think there is some really unhelpful noise from some GPs but we need to work together and not be in competition. We need to have clearer priorities, and we need to make sure that is reflected at a local level,’ she said.

‘We can’t continue this fighting – it’s ridiculous’.