Developed by the National Pharmacy Association in partnership with Q and Thiscovery, the framework will be launched with senior stakeholders across primary care and the NHS today).
Creating the Conditions for Safe Prescribing shows what needs to happen for pharmacist prescribing to expand safely, consistently and sustainably across the UK.
It covers:
• Structural conditions like adequate funding and integrated IT
• Relationships, with GPs and community pharmacists working as a team
• Confidence, with patients trusting pharmacist prescribing as safe and familiar, and backed by outcome data
Pharmacist prescribing in Scotland, Wales and in local schemes in England has proved popular, safe and deliverable at scale. Around one quarter of pharmacies in Scotland were offering ‘Pharmacy First Plus’ via independent prescribing by the end of 2024.
Similar services offered across the UK would benefit millions of patients and free up capacity in hospitals, primary care and neighbourhoods and open potential long term developments, from treating common ailments to the management of long term conditions and optimising medicine use.
NPA Vice Chair, Sukhi Basra, said:
“Pharmacist independent prescribing could be the most significant development in neighbourhood care in years – transforming how people experience healthcare.
“It offers potential for millions of people to have easier access to treatment, additional clinical capacity across the NHS and new opportunities for community pharmacists – benefits that are too important to leave to chance.
“We need to put in place a clear framework now to realise the huge benefits pharmacy prescribing can bring, in a way everyone can understand and get behind.”
The NPA’s research partners for this project are:
• Q, who together with their members, support the acceleration of improvement in health and care across the UK and Ireland, and
• Thiscovery, who gather knowledge and experience from people who use, deliver and influence services to generate insights to improve outcomes in health and care.
Libby Keck, Assistant Director for Collaborative Improvement Services, Q, said:
“Pharmacist independent prescribing has the potential to make treatment more accessible for millions of people.
“In any complex service change it is important to consider the conditions that need to be addressed if implementation is to be successful. This framework brings together the insights from patients, pharmacists and commissioners. It provides a robust understanding of the structural, relational and confidence factors that will allow it to succeed.
“We hope this framework gives leaders a practical and evidence-informed tool to effectively shape future community pharmacy prescribing, with patients at the heart.
Lorna Jacobs, Communities and Insights Lead at Thiscovery said:
“This has been a genuine team effort with the NPA and Q, and it’s been a privilege for Thiscovery to give community pharmacists, other professionals and patients a voice in shaping this framework. We’re proud that their insights will help guide the safe, sustainable expansion of pharmacy prescribing across the UK.”
The project is supported by a generous gift from the NPA Health Education Foundation.
Notes to editors
About Q
Everyone should have access to high quality health care. Right now, they don’t. We know there are thousands of people working hard to change this. But without connections between them, we lose ideas and energy needed to solve the complex challenges we face.
In Q, we navigate these challenges together. We are a large and vibrant membership community, with partners across the UK and Ireland. With our diverse range of skills, knowledge and perspectives, we make faster progress to improve health and care for everyone, every day. We learn, share and collaborate to address pressing health system challenges. We share our insight widely to create the conditions for improvement efforts to succeed. We work with others to co-design solutions, tailored to local or regional needs. Together, we want to embed a culture and practice of improvement that supports high quality care for all. By combining our energy and actions, we bring about individual and collective change that extends far beyond our community. Together, to improve health and care. For more information visit: q.thenhsalliance.org
About Thiscovery
Thiscovery gathers knowledge and experience from people who use, deliver and influence health and care services.
Our unique approach draws on the expertise of an interdisciplinary team of academics, technical innovators and communications specialists, as well as our accessible online platform which leverages sophisticated research methods to engage a growing, diverse crowd of participants.
The robust and reliable insights we deliver allows organisations to solve real problems by shaping clever and evidence-based solutions.
