A joint proposal for pharmacists to work as part of the general practice team, presented by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Royal College of General Practitioners, attracted plenty of media attention for the profession last month.

Pharmacists would function in the GP surgery in a similar way to a practice nurse in a bid to ease
pressure in general practice and the shortage of GPs, according to the proposal. It is suggested that the pharmacist would work with doctors on day-to-day medicines issues, as well as liaising with hospitals, community pharmacy and care homes.

David Branford, chair of the RPS English Board, said: ‘General practice is the foundation of the NHS but it needs proper resourcing and support. Having a pharmacist as part of the team can make a huge difference to both patients and clinical colleagues.’

Rob Darracott, Pharmacy Voice chief executive, suggested that the proposals should be seen as part of a bigger picture of closer working between GPs and pharmacists, with GPs capitalising on the existing community pharmacy network to relieve work pressure.

‘Yes, we need to bring pharmacists’ specialist skills around medicines more into play for patients, but we also need to ensure those skills are provided seamlessly out in the community, too; closer to the patient.’ Mandeep Mudhar, Numark’s director of marketing, also welcomed the proposals, but wanted clarity on how the new positions would be funded. The initiative would require new funding from NHS England and not be drawn from the current community pharmacy allocation, he said. Thought would also be needed on the role of the practice pharmacist in providing services.

They should not be offering services already offered by community pharmacy, but services that complement those, he suggested.