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Integrating community pharmacy into local urgent care services

The Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) was launched in 2019 to integrate community pharmacy into provision of local NHS urgent care services.

Helen E scaled
Helen Ellis

Patients are provided with a confidential consultation and assessment for the management and treatment of minor illness, reducing pressure on GP appointments and emergency departments. The service was offered as an option to patients needing urgent care who had contacted NHS 111. The CPCS is now being utilised by GP practices.  The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has developed an animation to explain how the service works https://www.pcc-cic.org.uk/cpcs/.

PCC is delighted to be providing a national programme of support to GP practices.  The support consists of access to an online community and resource on NHS networks; case studies and the sharing of good practice and experience; training sessions on related personal development skills such as influencing and is all focussed around our offer to work with individual practices and primary care networks (PCNs).  This direct support is delivered virtually and is designed to suit the practice or PCN.  Our team has worked closely with the regional and integrated care system (ICS) CPCS leads to align the support to any work they’ve previously undertaken or that they’re currently offering locally so that we can work efficiently and avoid duplication.  A highly experienced facilitator builds a relationship with the team involved in making referrals to help them identify and work through the challenges.  They’ll then work together to develop and implement a plan to increase the numbers of referrals.  Whilst this work is very specific and about supporting the practice making the referrals, we will also be signposting them to further support from other partners and stakeholders such as the local pharmaceutical committee (LPC).

In the first few weeks of contact with practices, we’re hearing that the challenges are largely around confidence both in the practicalities of the process and in the personal responsibilities and skills required.  As always, new systems can be daunting especially to teams already feeling stretched and we listen to concerns and work to make the transition to a new process or new way of working as painless as possible. 

To counter that, in training sessions we’re seeing a positive approach and lots of sharing of ideas and experience.  Ideas such as running reward-based competitions in the care navigation and reception teams, or across the PCN to stimulate the referral numbers. 

For more information see www.pcc-cic.org.uk/cpcs/.

Last Updated on 30 May 2022