We caught up with the Pharmacist/Pharmacy Team of the Year Award shortlist ahead of this year’s General Practice Awards ceremony to be held on 5 December at the Novotel London West. London's Kentish Town South pharmacy team shares how it supports GPs
'We've proven how pharmacists can strengthen GP-led care at scale,' says Qaes Rustame, lead pharmacist for James Wigg Group Practices – a reflection of the central role the group’s pharmacy team now plays across Kentish Town South primary care network (PCN).
It has helped reshape how pharmacy contributes to daily general practice operations, taking responsibility for digital triage, repeat prescribing, clinical document workflow and low-risk blood results across multiple sites.
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By managing these areas safely and consistently, the team has freed up significant GP time, improved access and reduced administrative pressure across the network.
The pharmacy-led eHub triage model aims to ensure that patients are directed to the right clinician first time.
Pharmacists manage minor illness, medicines queries and routine concerns, enabling GPs to focus on continuity and complex care. This shift has reduced patient wait times by 40% and contributed to a 30% improvement in friends and family test scores.
Hypertension care is another key area. Proactive reviews and medication optimisation have helped make the PCN the second-highest achieving in North Central London for treat-to-target outcomes, with 75.2% of patients managed to target.
The team has also established a pharmacist-led ADHD shared care review clinic to manage high-risk referrals from private providers.
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The wider system impact is clear: more than 2,800 GP appointments have been saved through targeted signposting, more than 3,000 appointments have been released annually through triage efficiencies, and a 36% reduction in demand for the PCN's NHS 111 slots has been recorded.
Reflecting on the team's year, Mr Rustame, who is also the practice allied health professional lead, said the strengthening of GP care had been achieved ‘not as an add-on, but as an engine for safer, faster access’.
He added: ‘Knowing that this has improved continuity, safety and patient experience – not just for our practices but across the local system – is exactly why we do this work.'
This is the fifth of six shortlisted entries for Pharmacist/Pharmacy Team of the Year at the General Practice Awards. The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Friday 5 December at the Novotel London West. If you’d like to be there on the night you can find out more here and book tickets here.
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