Pharmacy CEOs offer support for NHS Assembly

The leaders of five national pharmacy organisations have sought involvement in a new stakeholder forum being created to oversee progress on developing long-term plans for the NHS.

At a recent board meeting between NHS England and NHS Improvement, it was announced that an ‘NHS Assembly’ would be created, to include representatives from commissioning bodies as well as those who work in the healthcare sector.

The national pharmacy bodies have written a joint letter offering their services to the Assembly and highlighting what their members can offer to help the NHS to achieve its ambitions.

As well as describing the vital role that community pharmacies and pharmacists working in other settings play in ensuring that patients have access to medicines and can use them effectively, the letter sets out how the sector could help to improve patient care and the wellbeing of local communities.

The signatories to the letter were the Chief Executives of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIM), the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

The letter signifies the shared ambition of the national pharmacy bodies to ensure that the NHS uses pharmacy to its maximum potential for the benefit of patients and health services, and the commitment of the Chief Executives to work together to achieve that.

RPS President Ash Soni said: "The profession of pharmacy has much to offer the Assembly as it works at the heart of healthcare services and can help streamline quality of care and deliver cost effective services." 

Zoe Long, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at PSNC, said:

“The NHS Assembly could have an important role to play in overseeing the development of plans for the NHS, so we are very keen that pharmacy contributes to and supports its work. Pharmacists and their teams have a vital role to play for patients in the evolving NHS, and the pharmacy organisations want to work closely together to ensure that this role is maximised.” 

Read the letter.