Welsh pharmacy practice is set to prioritise NHS needs

Yesterday the Welsh government announced an updated three-year plan to transform pharmaceutical care in the country, which includes putting the NHS first.

In 2019 the Welsh Pharmaceutical Committee published their vision for the profession in Pharmacy: Delivering a Healthier Wales, which primarily focuses on meeting patients’ and the NHS’s needs in the future.

However, alongside the ten-year plan, new goals have been set to refresh expectations of how the pharmacy profession can help the NHS and utilise their skills in the three years leading to December 2025.

These include:

• Undertaking a comprehensive review of how the skills of pharmacists can be used to support hospital patients
• Reviewing how automation, electronic prescribing and pharmacogenomics can help transform the way pharmacy professionals deliver care
• Exploring how supporting research and development in pharmacy practice can provide a platform for further innovation in the delivery of pharmaceutical care

Eluned Morgan, the Minister for Health and Social Services, welcomed the new goals, saying: ‘Earlier this year we introduced the most significant reform of the way community pharmacies provide services since the NHS was created more than 70 years ago.

‘A great deal has already been achieved towards our vision, with community pharmacy teams now consistently using their expertise to support patients and our health and care services.

‘As the pharmacy profession embarks on the next phase of its journey, I am looking forward to seeing how the role of pharmacy professionals in other sectors can be transformed to achieve even more in the coming years.’

Andrew Evans, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Wales, said: ‘Good progress has been made in delivering our aspirations in all sectors of pharmacy practice.

‘The refreshed goals provide the basis for supporting and developing the role of pharmacy professionals who work in our hospitals and in community care, to ensure they can continue to meet the changing needs of patients and are empowered to respond to the challenges faced by the NHS.

‘Our ambitious new goals build on the work we are already doing to implement ePrescribing in secondary and primary care, increasing the use of digital technology and pharmacogenomics.

‘We also want to ensure the profession meets its obligations to be more socially responsible, tackling inequalities in health, supporting environmental sustainability and promoting the use of the Welsh language.’

Photo by Catrin Ellis