Health and Social Care Committee

Inquiry into the contribution of community pharmacy to health services in Wales

CP 16 – Conwy Borough Council Social Services

Contribution of Community Pharmacy Wales to Health Service in Wales

August 2011

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the inquiry into the contribution of Community Pharmacy to health services in Wales.

Discussions on the contribution drew some very positive comments from Social Services staff in relation to support they give to service users, but an impression from staff that this support is somewhat patchy. Specific comments made included;

§Positive contribution regarding assistance to service users, and more particularly to support work staff. This was connected to advice on medication, and also in responding to people’s needs on hospital discharge.

§Generally, the pharmacists appear to be receptive to more joined up working on issues relating to vulnerable people, but many pharmacists’ report not being linked into the care system. There were a number of positive comments made by pharmacists once they became aware of the involvement of support staff.

§The issue of support staff’s involvement in the safe administration of medication for the people they support has been an area where some attempts to make improvements in the system have not been supported by the representatives of Community Pharmacy Wales. This is in relation to our need for MAR charts to allow staff to administer safely in community settings. These appear to be routinely supplied for care home situations. Individual pharmacists have been supportive of this initiative.

§This is an area where the Social Services dept has received a great deal of help and support from the BCUHB, but this has not gone down the route of an extension of the pharmacy contract into an enhanced scheme.

§There are some issues in relation to the supply of MSDs. Some pharmacies charge for refilling dosset boxes and some do not. Some supply in MSD when there appears to be no need. We feel that some uniformity across Wales is needed.

§Conwy CBC is utilising community pharmacy services to deliver its winter flu jab programme, and this looks like being a more cost effective service for staff, with greater flexibility, than our previous arrangements using occupational health systems in-house.

§Staff felt that the contribution which pharmacy could have in respect of health and wellbeing – such as smoking cessation, obesity etc – is not sufficiently known amongst the general public and needs to be more widely publicised.

§Community Pharmacy were proactive in supporting the development of health, Social Care and Wellbeing.