Pharmacy First: GP referral tech to reduce 'informal signposting' launched
New software that “automatically” shares GP referrals with pharmacies has been rolled out, just as new poll data has found that half of pharmacies have seen reduced Pharmacy First referrals due to GP collective action, C+D can reveal.
Pharmacy software provider Cegedim has rolled out the NHS Booking and Referral Standard (BaRS), which allows GP Pharmacy First referrals to be delivered into a pharmacy’s clinical services system “in just the same way as those from NHS 111”, it told C+D exclusively last week (September 21).
In June, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said that BaRS implementation would simplify “the referral pathway from general practice”, remove the need to “copy and paste from emails/PDFs” and “enable formal referrals as opposed to informal signposting”.
Now Cegedim has revealed that it has “switched on” BaRS functionality, meaning “messages from GPs via BaRs will automatically appear” within a pharmacy’s clinical services system, which in the case of Cegedim Rx is the Pharmacy Services platform.
It added that the new standard “will remove any unnecessary administration between pharmacists and GPs” – “pharmacies don’t need to do anything, the information will from now on automatically appear”.
Cegedim product and technology director Tracey Robertson told C+D that the company is “thrilled to see the NHS Booking and Referral Standard (BaRS) being implemented by pharmacy and GP IT suppliers”.
She stressed that the move is a “significant step for Pharmacy First” and would remove “unnecessary email traffic and rekeying effort”.
“Reduction in referrals”
The update comes as Community Pharmacy England (CPE) last week (September 20) published poll data revealing that “almost half” of respondents had “seen a reduction in Pharmacy First referrals” due to GP collective action.
The negotiator said that it polled some 4,589 English pharmacy owners between August 9 and August 26 on “the effects of the GP collective action on their pharmacies”.
The same share of respondents said that they had also seen “an increase in patients voicing frustration with GP services”, while a quarter of those polled reported “a rise in informal referrals from general practices”.
Last week, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) revealed plans to ballot its members for the very first time on similar work to rule action.
Meanwhile this week, C+D exclusively revealed that four pharmacies that have provided some of the highest numbers of Pharmacy First consultations have been suspended from the scheme.
