Leading medicines' governance

Ensuring high quality prescribing, supply and use of medicines through robust governance

Pharmacy teams already play essential roles in medicines governance, focusing on ensuring the safe and effective use of medicines. The crucial difference between the future and today is that in 2030, this will be recognised by others as a leadership role. Currently pharmacy teams both define and implement medicines governance processes: in future, the wider health care team will be involved in implementing the processes.

Pharmacy teams will ensure standardised robust work processes, and good governance around the supply of medicines and high-quality evidence-based prescribing. They will consistently implement lean processes to achieve accurate prescribing, dispensing and use of medicines.

The supply of medicines will be modernised by 2030. Pharmacy technicians will be the professional leads for the assembly, distribution, and safe and effective supply of medicines. Pharmacists will continue to have an essential role in the medicines supply process through the clinical check. Every prescription for a medicine that is new or has been changed will be clinically checked by a pharmacist, and this will include a conversation with the patient. Accuracy checking will be automated through scanning technology to reduce workload and increase safety.