Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the implementation of the Pharmacy Workforce Review 2020 on the financial viability of community pharmacies.
Minister of Health: The aim of the Pharmacy Workforce Review published in 2020 was to inform pharmacy workforce development needs for the period 2019- 2029 across the three main employed sectors – which includes community, hospital and general practice pharmacy. The PWR is not an assessment of financial viability.
My Department has made significant investment into implementation of the Review recommendations, which is having a positive impact on the capacity and capability of the pharmacy workforce across all 3 sectors A ‘Pharmacy Futures NI’ campaign designed to attract, recruit, and retain pharmacists has helped to increase the number of students applying to study pharmacy at the two universities here.
The Pharmacy Workforce Review recommended that Pharmacists undertake foundation training, progressing to independent prescribing (IP). Access to IP is a key enabler for pharmacists to move to advanced training and to enable redesign of services so that more advanced pathways are progressed, providing them with opportunities to play a bigger role in delivering clinical services in primary care and in multi-disciplinary working.
In addition, new mandatory UK wide standards have been introduced to transform the Initial Education and Training (IET) of pharmacists, so that they are independent prescribers (IPs) on registration. This training will allow them to play a much greater role in providing clinical care to patients and the public from their first day on the register, including through prescribing medicines. It will also prepare them to gather clinical information to support the treatment of minor illness symptoms and to deliver self-care advice and treatment for people who present to local community pharmacies.
Policy work is in development and funding is being provided to implement the education reforms and provide the necessary training so that, from September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be IPs. This includes: embedding Experiential Learning (EL) and IP training into the undergraduate degree course and Foundation Training Year (FTY); increasing the grant for and number of foundation training places to 200, doubling last year’s intake; funding a number of additional posts in Trusts to support the new EL and FTY programmes; and increasing the number of post graduate IP places to 150 annually.
Further implementation of the PWR includes publication of the report on Developing the Role of Consultant Pharmacists in NI (June 2023) and development of Advanced Practice roles in NI. The necessary changes to policy and legislation are also being progressed which will introduce a regulated pharmacy technician profession in Northern Ireland by 2026.
New research is also being undertaken by my Department, sponsored by the United Kingdom Research Institute Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), to inform the development of future policy and commissioning of advanced practice roles and commissioning in community pharmacy. The project is exploring the benefits on population health of advanced pharmacist practitioners in community pharmacies who are independent prescribers delivering complex clinical care in integrated patient pathways, making use of developments such as point of care diagnostics, medical technologies, and pharmacogenomics.
These workforce initiatives in conjunction with the community pharmacy strategy and commissioning plan, and supported by major Departmental financial investment, will provide a longer-term opportunity to redesign current pathways and commission more clinical services from community pharmacies, expanding the skill mix and prescribing scope of practice in primary care. This will help to ensure the overall viability and sustainability of pharmacy practice going forward.
ENDS
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