As pharmacists ourselves, we understand the challenges facing our colleagues in community and hospital pharmacy.

The pharmacy contract is designed to encourage pharmacists to develop enhanced services, and offering additional clinical services designed to patients.

Changes to the pharmacy contract have reduced the level of reimbursement a pharmacist makes from fulfilling prescriptions and, although the volume of prescriptions dispensed has increased, there is a limit to how long this is sustainable.

Strong competition makes the retail element of a pharmacy’s business increasingly challenging and short-term funding has held back investment in providing clinical services which the NHS is keen for pharmacists to develop in order to reduce some of the burden on its own resources.

Our experience, and the breadth and range of our solutions, from simple manual blistering to full automation are all designed to help pharmacists develop their pivotal role in helping the NHS deliver to its agenda, rising to the challenge of coping with the changes in the NHS structure, using a patient-centred approach and improving productivity and profitability.

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Did you know?

The average number of prescription items dispensed to one of the biggest single user groups - older people - in 2007 was nearly double the number dispensed in 1997. On average, people aged 60 and over received 42.4 items per head per annum in 2007, compared to 22.3 items in 1997, nearly double, according to a report, Prescriptions Dispensed in the Community from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).

The report covers all prescriptions dispensed by the NHS in England by community pharmacists, appliance contractors and dispensing doctors. Statistics for 1997 – 2007; England, also shows nearly 60 per cent more prescription items were dispensed to the population in total in 2007 compared to 1997.

A total of 796 million prescription items were dispensed in 2007 – 59.2 per cent more than 1997 with the net ingredient cost also increasing by nearly 50 per cent over the same period to £8,372.7 million. There were on average, 15.6 prescription items dispensed per head of population compared to 10.3 in 1997.

Items prescribed by GPs form the majority but dentists' prescriptions and prescriptions written in hospital or a Community Health Trust are also included, provided they were dispensed by a community pharmacist.

How To

Key Fact

Wastage is pervasive throughout the system. For example, £230 million worth of medicines a year are returned to pharmacies for disposal; it is estimated that a great deal more is disposed of by patients themselves, often in environmentally harmful ways.

The Pharmacy as a ‘healthy living centre’

On 3rd April 2008 the Department of Health published a new White Paper, Pharmacy in England: building on strengths - delivering the future.

The Paper sets out a new vision for the function of the pharmacy and pharmacists in the future. This also follows the introduction of the pharmacy contract which took effect in 2005, and subsequent reviews of the role pharmacists play in supporting the nation’s health as ‘healthy living centres’.

In short, the White Paper sets out a more active, patient focused role for pharmacists, ultimately aimed at utilising skills and reducing pressures on GP surgeries and hospitals. It illustrates the untapped potential of pharmacists as clinical professionals in many areas, including:

• Management of medicines in domiciliary environments
• Maintenance of patients with long term, chronic illnesses such as asthma
• Treatments for minor complaints such as coughs and colds

From an MTS perspective, as well as much focus on medicines management and reduction in medicines waste, the Paper also refers to how advances in technology can aid the process of releasing pharmacists from their role as ‘dispensers’ so they can focus on patient care.

(click here) To read more about our pharmacy technology systems.