Pharmacy organisations highlight the role of community pharmacy to support people with long-term conditions

National pharmacy organisations have come together in Parliament today to highlight the role that community pharmacy can play in helping people to support people with long-term conditions.

With continued pressures on the NHS, growing demand from an aging population, and the King’s Fund warning of a “crisis” facing the health and care workforce[i], pharmacists are meeting with MPs and peers as part of a briefing session to showcase how they can identify and treat long-term conditions in the community, keeping people healthy and out of hospital, and reducing pressure on GPs and other parts of the health service.

Sir Kevin Barron MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Pharmacy, is hosting the event.  He said today:

 “It is great to see what pharmacy is capable of and how it could provide more support for people with long term conditions. The All Party Pharmacy Group, which I chair, recently called for a wholesale upgrade of what the NHS provides for people with long term conditions. For too long, people have been passed from pillar to post, with lots of variation in practice and uncoordinated care. We will continue to urge the Government to commission services from pharmacies to meet this need.”

Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the Company Chemists’ Association, said: “We are delighted to support this cross-sector work to raise awareness of the important work that community pharmacists do to help keep people with long-term conditions healthy and out of hospital. At a challenging time for the pharmacy sector, events like this provide an important opportunity to remind MPs of the role that community pharmacy plays in relieving pressure on the health service.”

Whether it is developing a care plan with patients with long-term conditions, offering advice on healthy lifestyles, or helping people to get the most from their medicines, the briefing session aims to demonstrate how community pharmacy can play a vital role in supporting people’s health and delivering a sustainable NHS for the future. 

Notes to editors

• Read the APPG’s report, In Good Health

The briefing session is supported by: 

• Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies
• Company Chemists’ Association
• National Pharmacy Association
• Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
•  Royal Pharmaceutical Society 

 The aims of the briefing session are to promote: 

• The sector’s proposals to help to improve care for patients with long-term conditions, whilst taking pressure off GPs and other NHS services,
• How community pharmacy teams already help people stay healthy and away from hospitals, and that they understand and get most benefit from their medicines, and
• The risks of reducing patient access to community pharmacy.