A new 10 Year Health Plan for England is part of the government’s health mission to build a health service fit for the future
“Pharmacy will have a vital role in the ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’ – bringing health to the heart of the high street”
In July, the Prime Minister launched the Government’s ‘10 Year Health Plan for England’.
What could this mean for you and your local pharmacies?
The Plan sets out the Government’s official vision for the NHS and the health system in England over the next decade and explains how it aims to achieve three shifts:
- Sickness to prevention. “We will reach patients earlier, to catch illness before it spreads and prevent it in the first place, by making the healthy choice the easy choice.”
- Analogue to digital. “New technology will liberate staff from timewasting admin and make booking appointments and managing your care as easy as online banking or shopping.”
- From hospital to community care. “More care will be available on your doorstep and from the comfort of your own home….and it will be easier to see a GP.”
One element of the Plan achieving considerable media attention is the promise to create multi-disciplinary Neighbourhood Health Centres in every community.
Community pharmacy developments described in the Plan
Specific references to community pharmacy in the plan include:
- Pharmacy will have a vital role in the ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’ – bringing health to the heart of the high street.
- Over the next five years, community pharmacy will transition from being focused largely on dispensing medicines to becoming integral to the Neighbourhood Health Service and offering more clinical services.
- Pharmacies will increase their role in managing long-term conditions, complex medication regimes, and the treatment of obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
- Community pharmacies will play a bigger role in prevention by expanding their role in vaccine delivery and screening for risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
- Over time, community pharmacies will be securely linked to the Single Patient Record to help them provide seamless service and give GPs a better view of how patients are being supported in pharmacies.
- Pharmacists will play a critical role in improving access to fast and convenient healthcare for women.
- Women and young people who missed out on the HPV vaccination at school will be able to have the vaccine administered at their local pharmacy.
While it’s clear that there will be profound changes to the way healthcare works in England, a lot of the detail is yet to emerge about what this means for community pharmacy, patients and the wider system.
How the National Pharmacy Association sees the 10 Year Plan
In the NPA’s view, it is a sensible ambition to aim to shift more NHS support into community settings. This can make healthcare more convenient for patients and much better value for taxpayers.
With the right support from Government, local pharmacies can dramatically improve access to primary care and help end the 8am scramble for a GP appointment, as well as relieving pressure on the country’s busy hospitals.
The investment needed to turbo-charge community pharmacies is very modest compared to the overall NHS budget and can bring swift returns.
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A similar long term plan has been published in Scotland. The ‘Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework aims to bring “more healthcare closer to home” and promises to “strengthen community pharmacy’s role in the system”, which includes empowering patients to manage their own health.
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