By Lucy Hamilton, Issraa Abubaker and Marina Habib, Pharmacy Students and Claire May, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Sciences, University of Brighton
At a time when healthcare is rapidly changing, the University of Brighton recently hosted an event titled 'Future of Prescribing', shedding light on the role pharmacists play within multidisciplinary healthcare teams. A wide range of pharmacy professionals, from first-year undergraduates to RPS Fellows, converged to explore the evolving landscape of pharmacy practice.
Pharmacists at the centre of patient care
Dr James Davies, Director of England at RPS, explained how MPharm programmes provide the foundation skills or ‘pharmacy toolbox’ for professional development. Pharmacists possess medication expertise, ensuring “the right patient, the right drug, the right time, the right dose, and the right route” every time and playing a crucial role in ensuring patients' safe and effective medication management. This toolbox can be applied in decision-making and developing confidence in prescribing within their scope of practice.
Empowering pharmacists through independent prescribing
Independent prescribing offers pharmacists a broader scope in patient care and has the potential to be transformative for both patients and the profession. Ciara O’Kane, Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead for NHS Sussex, presented on the 'Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme' shedding light on the models and frameworks available to pharmacists, empowering them to prescribe within their scope of practice. Embracing a 'pharmacy first' approach, pharmacists strengthen their position as frontline healthcare providers, providing faster patient access to essential healthcare and redistributing the strain in other parts of the NHS.
This shift builds patient confidence in community pharmacies and around their own health – pharmacies are more accessible than GP and other healthcare services which helps patients to have more autonomy over their own health.
Reaching out to pharmacists
The number of pharmacists prescribing varies across healthcare settings, and attendees collaborated in groups to share innovative outreach strategies to engage fellow professionals. Examples included using Instagram and TikTok to spread the message, as well as word of mouth and speaking to colleagues and peers about opportunities. RPS has a key role to play in supporting pharmacists on their prescribing journey.
The advent of independent prescribing brings significant continual learning and adaptation for qualified pharmacists. The cohort of first-year students starting the new MPharm at Brighton are truly embracing independent prescribing, and the profession has a bright future as part of the multi-disciplinary team to drive positive change in healthcare.
The RPS engagement team visits university fairs and events to promote the role of pharmacists and the profession. To see if we can attend your event, contact [email protected].
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