GPs cannot be the only healthcare professionals who are able to refer patients to social prescribing service say organisations representing pharmacies and pharmacists, as the profession calls for a greater role in the delivery of healthcare in Scotland.

Pharmacists do much more than just supply medicines, the Director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland, the professional organisation for pharmacy, has told MSPs – but both public and professional awareness of their role remains mixed.

Clare Morrison, speaking at today’s Holyrood health committee evidence session on alternative pathways to primary care, said an absence of proper workforce planning, shortage of training places for pharmacists to become independent prescribers and inadequate digital technologies have held back the professions’ ability to deliver more in primary care:

“Pharmacy already delivers so much within primary care across a variety of settings, including GP practices, community pharmacies and specialist pharmacy services in community settings.

“Pharmacy teams have the potential to be delivering even more but, to do this, it is vital that there is investment in areas such as independent prescribing, getting the right skill mix across pharmacy teams and introduction of new digital technologies like electronic prescribing and a shared patient record.”

Responding to the earlier call for evidence as part of the health committee’s parliamentary inquiry, NHS Forth Valley Area Pharmaceutical Committee (APC) wrote that a lack of understanding of pharmacy services means patients are often ‘inappropriately referred’ to their services by GPs and reception staff which ‘has a very negative impact on patient experience and journey’.

However, in its own response to the consultation, Community Pharmacy Scotland - which represents the owners of Scotland’s 1258 community pharmacies - said signposting between general practice and community pharmacies is incumbered by pharmacy’s outdated technology and limited access to data:

‘There is one glaring issue which hinders strong communication between GPs and CPs, and that is the lack of adequate tools to do the job,’ CPS said in their response.

‘[Community pharmacies] need pan Scotland access to full Electronic Care Summary (ECS) records, Clinical Portal and the facility to read/write access on patient records. This would allow CPs to work independently, without relying on others, including our GP colleagues and NHS 24, for specific information about our patients – and they are the patients of all practitioners, not just the GPs – and would save both the GPs and their practice receptionists significant time, which could be spent on patient care.

‘The administrative burden of communicating our teams’ actions where this is a contractual requirement is currently unreasonable (in some cases requiring the use of post) and unsustainable.’

In a document outlining its ambitions for the profession published in February, RPS Scotland said it wants every patient facing pharmacist to be an independent prescriber, in their own right, by the end of the decade.

Clare Morrison today told the Scottish parliament’s health and care committee that currently around a third of pharmacists across NHS Scotland are actively prescribing medicines, and the number is increasing all the time.

The public, Ms Morrison said, support pharmacists playing a central role in medicines decisions: a recent survey by Ipsos MORI shows 95% of people support pharmacists advising on medicines while 87% think It is important that pharmacists prescribe medicines.

The Pharmacy 2030 vision, published jointly by RPS Scotland and the National Pharmacy Technician Group Scotland, committed the profession to broadening the number of people who make community pharmacies their first port of call for minor illnesses, building on the NHS Pharmacy First service launched in the summer of 2020.

In its consultation response to the committee, the National Pharmacy Association said pharmacists are best placed to act as the front-door for people needing healthcare advice.

The organisation which says it supports the vast majority of independent community pharmacy owners in Scotland and the UK wrote:

‘Community pharmacists are the most accessible health professionals, available conveniently to the patient without appointment, often at times when other health professionals are not available.

‘The accessibility of the community pharmacist and their expertise in medicines as highly trained health professionals makes community pharmacies the ideal NHS access point as the first port of call for common clinical conditions’

Last week, the committee heard evidence from organisations representing patients’ groups on the potential for increased provision of social prescribing.

NHS Forth Valley APC said ensuring resources are accessible will be key and that pharmacists have a role to play:

‘GPs cannot be the only healthcare professionals who are able to prescribe or refer patients to social prescribing alternatives.

‘Patient and health professional education is key to this success, it can be much easier to prescribe a medication than take time to discuss social prescribing options with patients.’

 

Read more: Pharmacy publishes 2030 vision; Fear alternative pathways are worsening inequalities; Call for ‘revolution’ in social care commissioning

 

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