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December
Monday
5 December 2005
Officers and members of the Group visited a community pharmacy providing
new contract services to meet patients / users as well as the pharmacist,
staff and a local GP. Facilities including the dispensing
area, consultation room and shop were viewed and a lively discussion
on the various issues facing a local, busy pharmacy were covered.

L-R
Pharmacist Valender Ubhi, Dr Howard Stoate MP, Doug Naysmith MP
and pharmacist Dilip Joshi.

Dilip
demonstrating computer records and systems to the MPs.
October
Tuesday
18 October 2005
"Health
outside hospitals" - a special meeting on the future of primary
care was held at the House of Commons.
Guest speakers
were Dr Michael Dixon, Chairman NHS Alliance and Dr Fiona Adshead,
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health - pictured below
with Chair, Dr Howard Stoate MP.

The
All-Party Pharmacy Group held a public meeting on 18 October 2005
to discuss and debate policy issues relating to the forthcoming
Department of Health white paper on healthcare outside hospitals
and the current consultation programme, Your Health, Your Care,
Your Say.
The
Group was joined by two expert speakers: Dr Michael Dixon, Chair
of the NHS Alliance; and Dr Fiona Adshead, Deputy Chief Medical
Officer at the Department of Health. Dr Adshead has special responsibility
for public health.
Michael
Dixon outlined the high quality primary care service that already
exists in the NHS. Nevertheless he argued there were clear reasons
to seek improvements and make changes. First, there is not enough
primary care - there are some gaps in service, and more services
should be developed both to meet need and to anticipate it. Second,
access to services can be difficult. For example, patients wishing
to access their regular GP at weekends are likely to find it impossible.
Third, primary care services - though generally good quality - are
not always well coordinated either within primary care it self or
even more so, with secondary care and specialist services. Dr Dixon
also emphasised that commissioning arrangements are not as effective
as they could be, and responsibilities in this area were being reassigned.
For all these reasons he argued further change was needed in primary
care.
In
terms of the key changes he anticipated or favored, he highlighted
his wish to see practice-based commissioning establish itself quickly
and to facilitate real change in commissioning of services and patient
care. He expected to see service developments in community-based
primary care, including in the pharmacy setting. These could include
diagnostic services, mental health service provision, and out-patient
services in the community. He highlighted the lack of clarity around
choice: do patients want choice or do they want access to a good
local service? Can both policy objectives be achieved together -
choice and improved access to local services?
He
called for greater management integration of front line services
and staff, and cited the example of healthcare assistants and district
nurses. In this example, reporting lines were different leading
to a lack of co-ordination in service delivery. Change was required
to improve service delivery.
He
expected to see a greater and greater role for profession-led commissioning
in primary care, aimed at extending the range f services and choices
available to patients. He predicted further evolution of the clustering
model, in which GPs and other primary care professionals operate
in a cluster providing a broad range of health services, and possibly
incorporating social care services. This need not mean co-location
in the same premises, but would see professionals working under
one 'badge'.
Dr
Fiona Adshead argued that while the NHS needs to provide a good
'illness service' it also needs to provide a good 'health service'.
At present the public does not have sufficient access to high quality
health improvement services. Community pharmacy has a major role
to play in delivering a better health service. The government is
keen to find new ways of delivering health services in communities,
and pharmacies represent a key resource in this respect. The distribution
of pharmacies enables equitable access to services.
The
forthcoming white paper would seek to address issues concerning
how services are delivered, who the providers might be, and how
those who currently make little or no use of health services can
be reached in future. There was a need to ensure local services
were coordinated and planned, and she saw a partnership role here
for local government as well as local health organisations.
It
was important that standards and outcomes were effectively monitored
and measured. Dr Adshead expected to see the QAF develop further
and she raised the issue of how best to use existing resources,
such as the Healthcare Commission, to carry out performance monitoring
and measurement.
During
debate and discussion, a broad range of issues were raised, including:
the distracting effect of proposals for structural change at PCT
and SHA level; the broad role that community pharmacy can play in
delivering public health objectives not only through services related
to medication but others such as weight management advice; the concerns
created by uncertainty over medium term NHS funding plans; the need
to strike the right balance in prioritising illness services and
health services; the effect of prescription charging policy on access
to services and to treatment; and the importance of supporting pharmacy
services in communities where other forms of healthcare provision
may be sparse or of a low quality.
The All-Party
Pharmacy Group will submit its views to ministers in advance of the
publication of the white paper on healthcare outside hospitals.
July
Monday 18 July
2005
On Monday 18
July, the Group visited Guy's & St Thomas's Hospital Trust.
Departments to visited included, Intensive Care, A&E and
General Medicine. Discussions took place with a Consultant
Microbiologist, the Chief Pharmacist and Principal Clinical Pharmacist.
Pictured below are (l
to r): Tony West - Chief Pharmacist;
Duncan McRobbie - Principal Clinical Pharmacist; Dr Howard Stoate
MP - Chair of the Group; David Webb - Director of Clinical Pharmacy
London, Eastern and South East Pharmacy Services;
Kevin Barron MP - Chair of the Health Select Committee and member
of the Group.

Also
in the party visiting St Thomas' were; Baroness Cumberlege CBE (Cons),
Baroness Tonge (Lib Dem) and representatives of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society of Great Britain, PSNC, Company Chemists Association and
the National Pharmacy Association.

Robot
dispenser, Pharmacy Department, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital,
London.
June
Monday
20 June 2005
Inaugural
meeting of 2005 Parliament and AGM
Guest
speaker Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP, Minister of State (Quality &
Patient Safety)

At
the inaugural meeting and AGM, the following MPs were elected officers
of the Group;
Chair
- Dr Howard Stoate MP
Vice
Chairs -Baroness Jenny Tonge and Baroness Julia Cumberlege
Treasurer
- David Heath MP
Secretary
- Mark Todd MP
Following
the elections, Chair, Dr Howard Stoate MP made the following comments;
"The
All-Party Pharmacy Group plans to be at least as active as in the
last Parliament. We will maintain cross-party approach and constructively
examine the issues and continue to submit reports and recommendations
for action to Jane and other relevant Health Ministers. Examples
of major policy areas that we have examined include public health
and obesity, NHS IT modernisation, and the regulation of service
provision.
The context of our work this year is that this is an exciting time
for pharmacy - the new contract is being introduced now, between
April and October. This provides real opportunities for community
pharmacists to deliver new services and build on existing strengths,
to work more closely with GPs and others, and to improve the effectiveness
of primary care. Critical success factors include PCT awareness
and relationships, delivery of IT connectivity, training for pharmacists
and support staff, and premises development. It is encouraging to
see the desire amng pharmacists to make all this happen, but we
are aware too of the concerns that can be raised during a period
of change. The Group plans to monitor the progress of implementation
and examine early outputs from the new contract.
We plan to look at issues around the development of primary care
services generally in advance of the expected white paper later
this year. We plan to look at the skill requirements, training needs
and profile of future primary care professionals and to anticipate
the developments that will be required to ensure primary care professionals
can meet expectations and deliver service targets.
Practice-based commissioning is an important development both for
pharmacy and more widely, so we plan to examine how it will work,
what it will mean for patients and professionals.
While much is going on in community pharmacy, there are important
developments and challenges in the secondary care sector too. We
plan soon to visit a major London hospital trust to see for ourselves
the innovations that are taking shape in pharmacy practice.
Today is an opportunity to set that scene for our work in the months
ahead but also for everyone have an opportunity to talk and discuss
matters of interest. But above all, its an early opportunity for
us to impress the new Minister with the Group's level of support,
its energy and influence. So I'm delighted that Jane Kennedy has
been able to join us today. Jane is the Minister of State for Quality
& Patient Safety, and she has specific responsibility for pharmacy.
Jane its a great time to have responsibilty for this important profession
and the services it provides to the NHS and the public. I hope this
will be the first of many positive encounters you have with our
Group."
February
Monday
21 February 2005
The
All-Party Pharmacy Group met on 21 February 2005 to examine current
and future developments in the use of IT in community pharmacy and
NHS primary care generally, and between primary and secondary care.
A summary of the meeting can be read here: Meeting
summary
Speakers
included Harry Cayton, Director for Patients and the Public, Department
of Health and Lindsay McClure, Head of Information Services, PSNC.
Tuesday
18 October 2005
The
All-Party Pharmacy Group held a public meeting on 18 October 2005
to discuss and debate policy issues relating to the forthcoming
Department of Health white paper on healthcare outside hospitals
and the current consultation programme, Your Health, Your Care,
Your Say.
The
Group was joined by two expert speakers: Dr Michael Dixon, Chair
of the NHS Alliance; and Dr Fiona Adshead, Deputy Chief Medical
Officer at the Department of Health. Dr Adshead has special responsibility
for public health.
Michael
Dixon outlined the high quality primary care service that already
exists in the NHS. Nevertheless he argued there were clear reasons
to seek improvements and make changes. First, there is not enough
primary care - there are some gaps in service, and more services
should be developed both to meet need and to anticipate it. Second,
access to services can be difficult. For example, patients wishing
to access their regular GP at weekends are likely to find it impossible.
Third, primary care services - though generally good quality - are
not always well coordinated either within primary care it self or
even more so, with secondary care and specialist services. Dr Dixon
also emphasised that commissioning arrangements are not as effective
as they could be, and responsibilities in this area were being reassigned.
For all these reasons he argued further change was needed in primary
care.
In
terms of the key changes he anticipated or favored, he highlighted
his wish to see practice-based commissioning establish itself quickly
and to facilitate real change in commissioning of services and patient
care. He expected to see service developments in community-based
primary care, including in the pharmacy setting. These could include
diagnostic services, mental health service provision, and out-patient
services in the community. He highlighted the lack of clarity around
choice: do patients want choice or do they want access to a good
local service? Can both policy objectives be achieved together -
choice and improved access to local services?
He
called for greater management integration of front line services
and staff, and cited the example of healthcare assistants and district
nurses. In this example, reporting lines were different leading
to a lack of co-ordination in service delivery. Change was required
to improve service delivery.
He
expected to see a greater and greater role for profession-led commissioning
in primary care, aimed at extending the range f services and choices
available to patients. He predicted further evolution of the clustering
model, in which GPs and other primary care professionals operate
in a cluster providing a broad range of health services, and possibly
incorporating social care services. This need not mean co-location
in the same premises, but would see professionals working under
one 'badge'.
Dr
Fiona Adshead argued that while the NHS needs to provide a good
'illness service' it also needs to provide a good 'health service'.
At present the public does not have sufficient access to high quality
health improvement services. Community pharmacy has a major role
to play in delivering a better health service. The government is
keen to find new ways of delivering health services in communities,
and pharmacies represent a key resource in this respect. The distribution
of pharmacies enables equitable access to services.
The
forthcoming white paper would seek to address issues concerning
how services are delivered, who the providers might be, and how
those who currently make little or no use of health services can
be reached in future. There was a need to ensure local services
were coordinated and planned, and she saw a partnership role here
for local government as well as local health organisations.
It
was important that standards and outcomes were effectively monitored
and measured. Dr Adshead expected to see the QAF develop further
and she raised the issue of how best to use existing resources,
such as the Healthcare Commission, to carry out performance monitoring
and measurement.
During
debate and discussion, a broad range of issues were raised, including:
the distracting effect of proposals for structural change at PCT
and SHA level; the broad role that community pharmacy can play in
delivering public health objectives not only through services related
to medication but others such as weight management advice; the concerns
created by uncertainty over medium term NHS funding plans; the need
to strike the right balance in prioritising illness services and
health services; the effect of prescription charging policy on access
to services and to treatment; and the importance of supporting pharmacy
services in communities where other forms of healthcare provision
may be sparse or of a low quality.
The All-Party
Pharmacy Group will submit its views to ministers in advance of the
publication of the white paper on healthcare outside hospitals.
Thursday
23 June 2005
Letter
from Dr Howard Stoate MP to Patrica Hewitt, Secretary of State for
Health, on today's speech on public consultation for primary care.
Dear
Patricia
I
saw the lead story in The Guardian today which trailed your speech
on the public consultation exercise on primary care. As Chair of
the All-Party Pharmacy Group, the last couple of paragraphs of the
article in particular caught my eye. It reports you as saying that
electronic prescribing will help since a patient will be able
to register a preference for a pharmacy then go direct to the
pharmacist. These comments are not in quotes, but if accurate they
do raise concerns on my part. By requiring patients to nominate
a pharmacy (or express a preference) we could in effect be restricting
choice. At present there is almost unlimited choice for patients.
They can walk into any pharmacy, near their home, their place of
work, or elsewhere, and have the prescription dispensed. Nomination,
or expression of a preference, reduces that choice to the nominated
or preferred pharmacy. Why should they not be able to go to a pharmacy
other than that originally nominated or preferred? Rightly the government
has put patient choice at the very heart of policy so therefore
surely a system in which a patient's prescription is sent to a central
hub would give patients far more choice to obtain their medicines
when they needed it, whether at home at work or out of hours when
a nominated pharmacy might be closed. I appreciate some may feel
there will be issues of security and confidentiality but the Department
of Health must have addressed these through the NPfIT initiative
and the establishment of patient records and in any case this should
not be an insurmountable problem.
It
is not unheard of for a newspaper to inaccurately report a politician's
remarks, so it may be that the printed words do not reflect your
views. I would be very grateful if you could let me know.
The
All-Party Pharmacy Group is one of the largest and most active all-party
groups in Parliament. We have over 100 members, many of whom take
a keen interest in pharmacy issues, and the wider healthcare environment.
You may recall our role in the control of entry issue following
the OFT's report on the matter when you were at the DTI.
We
held an inquiry into electronic transfer of prescriptions and IT
developments more generally just before the election, and submitted
our findings to the then Minster, Rosie Winterton. I would hope
that you would see our Group as an important stakeholder in relevant
policy developments such as ETP and therefore feel able to consult
us on intended policy developments in advance of their announcement.
For our part, we have a strong track record of responding to such
consultation with constructive contributions, which I believe Health
ministers have always appreciated. I feel sure we can do this in
this instance, and I would be happy to meet you or others at the
Department to discuss the matter in more detail.
I
look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best
wishes
Dr
Howard Stoate MP
Chair
cc
Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP
5
April 2005
All-Party
Group quizzes main parties on pharmacy policies for general election
campaign
Dr Howard Stoate MP (Labour, Dartford), Chair of the All-Party Pharmacy
Group, has today written to the front bench health spokespeople
for the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties seeking
details of their policies and plans of relevance to pharmacy in
both the community and secondary care sectors.
Dr Stoate said; "We are keen to hear from each of the parties
how their health policies will effect pharmacy services and pharmacists.
I have asked each of the spokespeople to respond to me with details
as soon as possible. This is not about party political point-scoring.
It is intended to provide a focus for the Group's work after the
election and to inform those interested in pharmacy issues about
each of the main parties relevant plans. We will post information
on our website once we receive it."
Further information: Simon Whale - 020 7618 9100 / 07770 536276
/ simonwhale@luther.co.uk
5
April 2005
MPs
welcome new pharmacy services
The All-Party Pharmacy Group has welcomed the introduction of the
new Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. Dr Howard Stoate MP
(Labour, Dartford), Chair of the Group, said:
"Its great news that at last the NHS will begin making full
use of the skills and resources of community pharmacists and their
staff. As the contract rolls out, patients will see real benefits
from services such as medicines use reviews, advice and counselling,
and repeat dispensing. I'm particularly pleased to see that pharmacists'
ability to take on a greater public health role will be developed
under the Choosing Health Through Pharmacy programme. Pharmacists
are ideally placed to offer the public advice on healthy lifestyles,
and through this programme I expect to see that happen more and
more. All in all, this is good news for patients, the NHS and pharmacists
themselves."
Further information: Simon Whale - 020 7618 9100/
07770
536276/simonwhale@luther.co.uk
News
release 8 March 2005
“Action
needed to safeguard patient choice when
prescriptions
go electronic” say MPs
Report
makes six policy recommendations on IT changes
Patients
should continue to have the choice of which pharmacy dispenses their
NHS prescription when electronic prescriptions are introduced. That
is among the main recommendations to Health Ministers in a report
published today by the All-Party Pharmacy Group, a cross-party group
of more than one hundred MPs and peers.
Chair
of the Group, Dr Howard Stoate MP (Labour, Dartford), said: “Patient
choice is a key principle in NHS reform, and it should apply when
paperless prescribing is introduced. Speaking as both a politician
and a GP, I say it is important that prescribers do not direct their
patients' prescriptions to a particular pharmacy. It should be for
the patient to choose where to have their medication dispensed.
The new technology should be designed to allow that to happen.”
In
its recent inquiry into developments in NHS IT, the All-Party Pharmacy
Group heard evidence from experts, including concerns that when
the electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) is introduced
patients' freedom to choose may be removed, and prescribers (GPs
and others) will direct patients' prescriptions to a particular
pharmacy.
Dr
Stoate added: “Today, when a GP writes a prescription it is up to
the patient to decide which pharmacy to go to for dispensing. That
is how it should be in future when technological changes are introduced.
To restrict that freedom of choice seems undesirable to us and it
raises concerns about fairness and conflicts of interest. We are
concerned that the direction of prescriptions will disadvantage
many patients and many pharmacies.”
In
a separate recommendation, the Group has also called for the appointment
of a clinical champion to improve communication between pharmacists
and the government over the introduction of new information technology.
Dr
Stoate said: “The government has appointed clinical champions for
the medical and other professions to improve communication around
IT changes and to ensure those changes are understood and supported
by professionals at the sharp end of NHS practice. That is a step
we support, but it appears to have overlooked pharmacy. Given the
importance of pharmacists in the delivery of primary care improvements,
and the new pharmacy contract that goes live in a few weeks' time,
we think the appointment of a pharmacy champion would be beneficial.
Pharmacists are too important to primary care reforms to be overlooked.”
“IT
changes will be crucial to the successful delivery of services under
the new pharmacy contract. We are confident that the changes being
planned will improve patient care. But we do want to make sure that
those changes are practical and reflect the need to improve communication
between pharmacists and other health professionals. That is why
we also want the Department of Health to ensure that pharmacists
have access to all the relevant elements of a patient's electronic
care record, so long as consent is given and confidentiality assured.”
-
ENDS -
Notes
for editors
1.
The All-Party Pharmacy Group's report contains six policy
recommendations to Health Ministers. These are:
- Patients
should be free to choose the pharmacy that dispenses their medication.
The direction of electronic prescriptions by prescribers should
be resisted.
- A
national clinical champion for pharmacy should be identified and
appointed, with the remit of communicating between the National
Programme for IT and the profession.
- Pharmacists
should be given appropriate role-based access to patient information,
while ensuring consent and confidentiality are respected.
- Cross
border arrangements for sending prescriptions and patient information
electronically between the home countries should be clarified.
- Private
prescriptions and controlled drugs should be incorporated within
ETP roll-out plans.
- Pharmacists
should be able to upload summary information about their contact
with patients to the Care Record so that other health professionals
can access this.
Further
information: Simon
Whale 020 7618 9100 /
07770 536276 simonwhale@luther.co.uk
The
report to Ministers can be read here: report
to ministers
APPG
RESPONSE TO THE YES VOTE FOR THE
NEW
NATIONAL PHARMACY CONTRACT
Wednesday
1 December 2004
Speaking
at today's meeting of the Group, focused on the issue of banning
smoking in public places, Dr Howard Stoate MP (Labour, Dartford),
Chair, said:
“Pharmacists
in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly for the new national
contract. This marks a watershed for community pharmacy and I'm
delighted to see pharmacists embrace plans for change so positively
and in such numbers.
The
All-Party Group was set up to promote the potential andvalue of
community pharmacy, and I think the profession has seen its profile
raised hugely in recent years. Pharmacy has forced itself on to
the healthcare agenda. It is now widely acknowledged that pharmacists
are part of the NHS family and key members of the primary care team.
I
want to see pharmacists clearly recognised as being just as important
to the delivery of primary care as any other health professional.
This new contract will give them the opportunity to do that by increasing
their contribution to healthcare in the years ahead. Its an exciting
time for pharmacy. It is now up to pharmacists to deliver, and I'm
confident that by working closely with PCTs, GPs, other health professions
and patients, they will.
We
will be looking in detail at elements of the new contract in the
months ahead, and reporting our views in the run-up to its implementation
in April.”
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