Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health to detail any steps he is taking to enable community pharmacies to improve patient access and continuity of care, particularly for people with long-term conditions and complex needs.
Minister of Health: My Department is progressing a range of actions to improve patient access and continuity of care, particularly for people with longterm conditions and complex needs, through implementation of the Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030.
This plan adopts a whole-system approach, including: expanding clinical services in community pharmacies; workforce development including increased use of advanced clinical roles and independent prescribing; digital integration such as electronic prescription transfer; legislative reform to modernise service delivery; and targeting health inequalities.
Delivery is being progressed through the 2025-2028 Commissioning Plan, which was developed in partnership with Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI), the representative body for community pharmacy contractors. This includes enhanced services that support access and continuity of care, including: Pharmacy First services (e.g. Sore Throat, Shingles and Emergency Hormonal Contraception); the Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service; and the Community Pharmacy Palliative Care Network. These enable community pharmacists to provide timely treatment, and ongoing support, particularly for patients with long-term conditions and complex needs.
In addition, my Department is progressing the Neighbourhood Model which will integrate Community Pharmacy with GPs, HSC Trusts, Voluntary and Community organisations, and other partners to deliver coordinated continuous and accessible care.
My Department has also been successful in securing £42m of transformation funding to support the implementation of the ePharmacy programme, which will further support community pharmacy service expansion and improve access.
Together these measures demonstrate my Department’s commitment to strengthening the role of community pharmacy in delivering accessible, continuous care.
ENDS
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