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Press release: NHS Employers announces start of work on Community Pharmacy

09 Sep 2008

NHS Employers announced today that work has begun on the implementation of actions from the Government's recent White Paper, "Pharmacy in England - Building on Strengths, Delivering the Future".

The NHS Employers Community Pharmacy team will be led by Felicity Cox, former Chief Executive of Watford and Three Rivers PCT and Dacorum PCT who was also a community pharmacist. Felicity therefore brings with her a unique understanding of both pharmacy and the strategic NHS position. 

The team will be focussing on the following areas from the White Paper:

• Professional relationships
• Repeat dispensing
• Pharmaceutical needs assessment
• Medicines Use Reviews (MURs.) 

NHS Employers and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) will now be meeting on a regular basis to collaborate on this work. The BMA's General Practioners Committee (GPC) will also have a close involvement in discussions regarding professional relationships.

Felicity Cox, NHS Employers lead negotiator said;

"We are pleased to support changes which will really maximise the potential of community pharmacy, enabling closer working relationships in primary care and improving the way we deliver services locally to patients."

Sue Sharpe, PSNC Chief Executive Officer said, "PSNC is looking forward to starting this vitally important work. Our aim is to ensure we create the right environment for pharmacies to provide a wider range of accessible and sustainable clinically-led NHS services which will maintain and improve health in local communities."

Dr. Laurence Buckman, GPC chair said, "We look forward to developing professional relationships between GPs and pharmacists, closer working will be to the benefit of patients."

Notes for editors

• NHS Employers represents trusts in England on workforce issues and helps to ensure that the NHS is a place where people want to work. 
  
• The "Pharmacy in England: building on strengths - delivering the future" text  is available to download from the Department of Health website.

 NHS Employers core team biographical information:

• Felicity Cox is a former community pharmacist who has also been a Chief Executive of a Primary Care Trust.  Felicity was part of NHS Confederation's team in the negotiations of the 2005 community pharmacy contractual framework. She has developed established relationships with the PSNC.   
  
• Adrian Jacobs who is a trained GP, and currently acting Medical Director of Leicester City Teaching PCT.  Formerly Director of Primary Care at Torbay Care Trust, he has been a negotiator for NHS Employers on the GMS contract since 2003 and he is a key member of the NHS Employers Quality and Outcomes Framework team.
   
• Mark Wilson, who has extensive knowledge of primary care finance. Mark is an accountant by background and a consultant who regularly works with the primary medical care team at the Department of Health to support policy development and works with many PCTs through Primary Care Contracting.  
  
• Harriet Lewis is Head of Community Pharmacy Services at Trafford PCT. Harriet was a member of the community pharmacy reference group which supported the development of the Department's primary and community care strategy. 
  
• Sue Ashwell is currently Assistant Director of Commissioning and Chief Pharmacist at Cambridgeshire PCT. She was a dispensing doctors' subgroup negotiator for NHS Employers during the GMS contract negotiations for 2006/07.  She was also on the interview panel that supported Anne Galbraith's review of pharmaceutical contractual arrangements 
  
• Joining the core team is Graham Atkinson, Director of Strategy and Redesign at Western Cheshire PCT. A former community pharmacist, Graham was previously the Director of Modernisation and Primary Care across two PCTs.  
   

Contact details

The press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers.

If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:

• Georgina Vincent
  0207 074 3308 or georgina.vincent@nhsemployers.org
• Julia Toft
  0207 074 3260 or julia.toft@nhsemployers.org

For out of hours media enquiries, please contact the duty press officer on 07880 500726.

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