Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Adult and Health Services and the Director of Public Health, Durham County Council.

The Board received an update report and presentation from the Director of Public Health on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) 2022-2025 (for copy see file of minutes).

The Director of Public Health noted the combination of the Community Pharmacy County Durham and Community Pharmacy Sunderland to create the Community Pharmacy North-East Central, with Greg Burke as the Chief Officer, and noted that the PNA ran for three years, up to 2025.  It was explained as regards the work of community pharmacies, noting the reduction from 100 hours to 75 hours and the impact this had especially in the context of pharmacies taking on additional roles. 

She added the NENCICB noted that currently they felt there was enough capacity and the pharmacies we had be of a high quality, it was approaching a ‘tipping point’ and therefore any future closures or changes to pharmacies would need to be looked at in-depth.  She noted new services being offered via pharmacies included blood pressure checks, contraception, flu-vaccines amongst other roles that helped to take the pressure off GPs and Accident and Emergency.  She noted that funding was a challenge and emphasised that it was critical to support our local pharmacies as they understood our local communities. 

G Burke noted that some services provided by local pharmacies were classed as essential and therefore mandatory, with some advanced services being optional.  He noted that the coverage in County Durham was very good and that Pharmacy Services North East (PSNE) Limited had been established across five Local Pharmacy Committees to help streamline commissioning of services and provide a single point of contact for pharmacies within the area.  He noted recent developments included the National Think Pharmacy First Services and relaunches of the national hypertension and contraception services.  The Board reviewed a video highlighting how local pharmacies would transform to be a key doorway into the NHS, offering a wider range of services and more clinical care and management of long-term conditions, working collaboratively to provide better value for the NHS and public.

Councillor R Bell noted the vison was very positive and asked how we would better promote the offer of our community pharmacies with local residents.  G Burke noted that there was a lot of work to do in both promoting the services offered, as well as managing expectations.  He noted national campaigns relating to annual vaccines, relaunch of the blood pressure testing and contraception services, as well as pharmacy finders and the Think Pharmacies First.  He noted that Healthwatch would be invited to attend meetings in respect of many issues, including on the issue of communications.

Councillor R Bell noted issues relating to funding and noted that some parts of the NHS seemed to ‘pick up the slack’ and asked as regards any replication or repetition of services.  G Burke noted that this was an issue for Community Pharmacy England to raise with Government, noting that £645 million had been noted as new funding, but noted that this was for additional services on top of the ‘day job’ of providing those essential pharmacy services.  Councillor R Bell noted that he felt it was very important that those actually carrying out the work were those receiving the funding.  The Head of Integrated Commissioning noted that the relevant GP data was not collected nationally, however, at the County Durham level it was collected, and it was noted that County Durham offered the highest number of GP appointments. 

She added that in relation to 111 calls, more patients were diverted from Accident and Emergency that anywhere in the country.  She added this had an impact and the challenge was the high number of GP appointments, and a review of overflow hubs was ongoing.

J Todd noted there could be a push from GPs to pharmacies, with a proportion of the follow up to include pharmacies as an alternative.  He asked if there needed to be formal levers in place as regards this.  G Burke noted recent input from GPs in terms of planning services, such as the COVID-19 and flu vaccines.  He noted that while some media reporting was negative, the position remained positive with there being an appetite within the marketplace for the provision of pharmacy services.  He noted that the performance and positive impact of local pharmacies during the pandemic had been a benefit to both partners and patients.

Resolved:

That report and presentation be noted.

J Todd left the meeting at 11.10am