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Report

Long read

Working collaboratively in an ICS: freeing up opportunities in community pharmacy

Exploring the opportunities for greater collaborative working between community pharmacy, primary care networks and federations within ICSs.

  • Primary care

Download the report $Working Collaboratively In An ICS Community Pharmacy 543.1 kB

Key points

  • This report summarises the talking points and recommendations from a July 2021 roundtable, hosted by the NHS Confederation's PCN Network, Primary Care Federation Network, National Pharmacy Association and Primary Care Pharmacy Association.
  • Community pharmacy is an integral part of the NHS and has a vital role to play as a full partner within a primary care network (PCN). Medicines’ safety and optimisation are widely recognised as part of its unique skill set but, increasingly, community pharmacy is collaborating with partners in primary care to deliver integrated clinical services in integrated care systems (ICSs).
  • In July 2021, leaders from leading pharmacy representative bodies, GP federations and PCNs took part in a roundtable discussion to highlight the opportunities that working collaboratively in an ICS has to offer, and to discuss solutions to current barriers.
  • Participants identified seven key requirements to ensure that the opportunities and benefits of involving community pharmacy are realised. These requirements are relevant to: NHS leaders developing and implementing ICS guidance; community pharmacists who want to play their part in shaping new ways of working; partners working in general practice and in GP federations; and existing leaders in ICSs and PCNs.
    • 1. Community pharmacists must be given the time and space to get involved in working through the development of local services with their primary care colleagues.
    • 2. Community pharmacy and general practice need to work through the historical perceptions of their relationship as providers, moving from a position of competition to one of collaboration and a single voice for primary care.
    • 3. To achieve change at scale, service developments must be translated into a national contract specification for local adoption with the ability for some local flexibility to be applied to meet the specific needs of a local population.
    • 4. Nationally specified services should be properly resourced, recognising that commercial viability is a valid request by contractors in the NHS.
    • 5. ICSs must support the implementation of nationally specified services, locally ensuring there is project management, IT deployment and system-level governance and oversight for implementation. This should be backed up with appropriate mechanisms to involve community pharmacy in decision-making at all levels and resources available to enable this.
    • 6. An appropriate information technology and information governance framework is needed to support data sharing and facilitate the development of local services and the implementation of national services.
    • 7. An appropriate medico/legal framework is needed which recognises the role of pharmacists as independent prescribers and resolves issues relating to conflicts of interest.