The General Practice Forward View, recently published by NHS England, announced funding to extend the Clinical Pharmacy Pilot and recruit a further 1,500 pharmacists into General Practice.
In Sunderland, as a pilot site, we’re ahead of the game and we have now appointed seven Clinical Pharmacists to the team who will be coming on board over the next three months.
The GPFV identified the benefits pharmacists can bring to GP Practices which includes helping with the management of long term conditions, and post discharge reviews. Meanwhile, a report published by The Nuffield Trust highlighted that pharmacists working in surgeries can cut the time GPs would normally spend on medicines management and prescribing issues by nearly half.
The first three members of the team joined us on 23rd May when we welcomed Megan Blythe, who will be carrying out the role of Senior Clinical Pharmacist, and Ambreen Aslam and Christina Gkali, who will both undertake the role of Clinical Pharmacist. Following an induction, the team will be commencing work in five practices in the Sunderland area from Monday 6th June.
The remaining pharmacists will be joining the team over the coming months with a total of 7 Clinical Pharmacist being in post by the end of the summer. The pilot demonstrates a move forward for General Practice, with the opportunity to enhance clinical teams and utilise the expertise of pharmacists to increase front line services within Primary Care, ensuring that patients in Sunderland continue to receive a high level of care.