What next for community pharmacy? This article I wrote for Pharmacy Magazine a couple of years ago explored what pharmacy might look like in the future. I speculated on two potential models which I called Nirvana and Amazonia. At the time I challenged the profession to create its own future and not be led by government and others to a place where we, and most patients, don't want to go whilst being realistic when we operate in a healthcare ecosystem is changing at an increasingly rapid … [Read more...] about Back to the Future
Hub and Spoke
Hub and spoke – The reality?
Some refer to hub & spoke as dispensing hubs and others as centralised dispensing, but what we are really talking about is centralised or remote assembly. Dispensing includes supply to a patient which creates the opportunity for an intervention (pharmaceutical care) to support the safe and appropriate use of the medicine or provide advice on healthy lifestyles. This opportunity must be preserved at all cost for the benefit of patients, the health system and the profession. Some of the … [Read more...] about Hub and spoke – The reality?
Putting community pharmacy at the heart of the NHS
The headline sounded great, however the underlying messages in the letter from NHS England and the Department of Health dated December 17 were not the clear vision for the future of the sector that the owners and employees of community pharmacies in England would have hoped for. What it was is a wake up call. We understand that the NHS has financial, quality and access challenges and it was broadly accepted that the recent government spending review would have some impact on funding for the … [Read more...] about Putting community pharmacy at the heart of the NHS