Government will make ‘even better use’ of pharmacists following prescribing changes

Pharmacists are ‘key’ to the government’s plans to deliver more care in the community, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has stressed.

Speaking at the launch of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) new strategic plan for 2025-2030, Mr Kinnick said that as more pharmacists become independent prescribers next year, the government would make ‘even better use’ of the profession’s skills.

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He reiterated the government’s commitment to shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and sickness to prevention’ and to work with the pharmacy sector to support this.

‘I want to continue as I have set out to work with the GPhC and the sector as a whole to map out pharmacies’ contribution to delivering the three big shifts – to listen and iterate how we work together to make the NHS fit for the future, and to provide the medicines and the services to every patient that needs them to the high standards that they deserve.’

Mr Kinnock also suggested that ‘long-awaited’ legislation on pharmacy supervision would be brought forward ‘very shortly’.

‘This will give pharmacies in the community, hospitals, care, homes and other settings, greater flexibility in how they deploy their staff and ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can use their full skill set in the service of their patients and the wider NHS,’ he said.

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His comments came during a speech at the parliamentary reception held on Wednesday to mark the launch of the GPhC’s new five-year strategic plan.

The plan sets out how the GPhC will ‘uphold safety, quality and public trust in pharmacy, and build on the progress that has already been made’.

It focuses on three strategic aims, including empowering pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to provide trusted, safe and effective pharmacy care; protecting those using pharmacy services by working collaboratively with healthcare regulators and other organisations; and building a skilled, agile and inclusive organisation to carry out our regulatory responsibilities.

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Last week, the health secretary outlined his ambitions to drive ‘much of what is done’ in hospitals towards ‘the high street’ and remote services over the next decade.

Speaking at NHS Confed Expo, NHS England’s national director for primary care and community services Dr Amanda Doyle also said community pharmacy was ‘increasingly emerging as a key clinical service provider in primary care and we need that to grow’.