A report by Public Policy Projects (PPP) has called for the ARRS – which recruits pharmacists into general practice - to be put “under constant review” across regions.
It also suggested that community pharmacists should become clinical directors of primary care networks (PCNs).
Read more:‘Staggering’ £387 million spent on GP pharmacist recruitment via ARRS
The report was developed by the PPP, which describes itself as a facilitator of “effective collaboration between public and private sector organisations”, following three roundtable discussions held this year featuring “over 40 sector leaders and key stakeholders”.
It said that the report published last week (November 1) was “a succinct reflection” of the views of sectoral leaders.
Read more: Catch up with C+D's latest Big Debate on ARRS recruitment
According to the report, monitoring the “impact” of the ARRS in “each region” will prevent the local community pharmacy workforce from being “unnecessarily depleted”, while maintaining “effective support” for GPs.
Nevertheless, the report did not call for ARRS to be halted but said that ARRS roles should be “supported” by pharmacy leadership development programmes run by integrated care systems (ICSs), in order to improve career progression opportunities for pharmacists.
Community pharmacy PCN directors?
The report also called for “more diverse” PCN leadership – clinical directors “in particular” - to represent and make the most of “all four pillars of primary care”.
It said that general practice often “dominates proceedings” in PCNs and called for more PCN clinical directors with a “pharmacy background”, saying that it is “imperative to increase the level of representation and voice given to community pharmacy”.
Read more: ‘Deep-rooted culture’ of excluding pharmacy, ICS leaders warn
The report further suggested that the ARRS should be extended to community pharmacies, which would provide pharmacists with experience in multidisciplinary settings and would make community pharmacy “a more competitive employer”.
It said that a community pharmacy ARRS could see the development of pharmacists as a “clinical team leader” and pharmacy technicians providing over-the-counter supervision, supply under patient group directives (PGDs) and vaccinations and “supporting” services.
Read more: Dr Leyla Hannbeck: ‘Why can’t pharmacy have its own ARRS?’
The report also proposed that pharmacies should recruit pharmacy technicians that do not have a university education.
And it said that pharmacy technicians “and assistants” should be involved in “medication management and counselling”, providing vaccinations and “patient education under pharmacist supervision”.
NPA welcomes “excellent” report
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) welcomed the “excellent” report, which it said it had been involved in developing.
It said last week (November 1) that the proposal on “constant review” of the ARRS’ impact regionally was a “useful recommendation” for NHS England (NHSE).
The report is a “tool that local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) can use to deepen their relationships with integrated care boards (ICBs)” as well as “further evidence that the direction of travel…towards locally integrated clinical care is set firm”, it added.
Read more: HSCC chair: Bring community pharmacy ‘under one roof’ with rest of primary care
The report set out a variety of other proposals, including that:
- ICBs should connect community pharmacy teams with other parts of primary care
- Recruitment and retention efforts should consider pharmacy “as reaching across geographies, rather than between individual siloed organisations”
- ICSs should create “more effective pharmacy leadership development programmes”
- Opportunities for career progression in pharmacy should be revamped
- Community pharmacy’s future contract should be “integrated”, “considering the full breadth of primary care service provision” and based on “health outcomes”
- ICSs should help “shift contracting models” towards “outcomes-based” contracts
- ICSs should grant community pharmacies “full data visibility”
