National Pharmacy Association Board meeting – July 2019

The National Pharmacy Association’s Board and Committees convened on 1-2 July.

The Board received its regular report of progress against the business plan agreed for 2019/20.  The plan commits the NPA to delivering member-centric services and securing community pharmacy’s position as the front door to the NHS.

Two more NPA members came to share their views in person with the NPA Board about the pharmacy contractual framework in England. While there are a variety of opinions on the matter, it is clear that most members agree with the fundamental principles already presented by the NPA to all those involved in the current contract negotiations, namely: Be ambitious and don’t accept that decline is inevitable; provide a level playing field and be fair to independents, provide clarity & certainty (a successful outcome would include a clear direction on clinical service development); provide sufficient and sustained funding for change and improvement; and act with urgency.

The Board meeting was chaired by Vice Chair Andrew Lane, following the recent departure of Nitin Sodha from the Board.  Andrew’s words of thanks to Nitin for his 12 years of service to the Board are here.

The Policy & Practice Committee looked at the progress of the NHS 111 DMIRS pilots in North East of England, Devon, East Midlands and London, which have been extended until 30^th September 2019.  Please join us for our DMIRS webinar on 31 July, which will be delivered by two pharmacists who know the service inside out, having developed and delivered the original NHS111 referral scheme in the North East.

Membership Committee received a report on the performance of Pro Delivery Manager. There are now over 500 pharmacies actively using PDM and 20,000 prescription deliveries are made every day.

If you wish to comment on anything in this brief report of Board proceedings, please get in touch with your NPA regional board member, or email independentsvoice@npa.co.uk