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If pharmacists had greater freedom to act within their scope of competence, it would help to ease some pressure on the NHS, says NPA chief pharmacist Leyla Hannbeck.

Some months ago, the chief executive of the NHS in England set out the challenges facing the health service in the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy has a lot to offer the NHS to help it meet these challenges.

Specifically, Simon Stevens called for a redesign of urgent and emergency care, and for patients to make greater use of their pharmacy as an alternative to visiting the GP or A&E. Our sector is willing to take on an enhanced role, but sustained investment and adequate professional powers are needed for this to happen. Pharmacists study for five years, becoming experts in the use of medicines, yet have very limited freedom to initiate medicines.

In addition to the General Sales List that is available to all retailers, there is only access to a short list of Pharmacy-only medicines. There are many areas where unnecessary restrictions stop pharmacists from prescribing when to do so is certainly in the best interests of patients. For example:

• When there is a very obvious error in a prescription (e.g. an incorrect formulation) a pharmacist cannot simply re-prescribe the correct medicine but must ask the GP for a new prescription
• When a patient has lost or run out of their usual medicines, pharmacists can make an emergency supply but must send the patient to a GP to get a new prescription for long-term treatment
• In numerous areas where pharmacists provide advice in a pharmacy and know the appropriate treatment for a minor ailment, but have to send the patient to the GP or out-of-hours to A&E to obtain a prescription.

Broader role

Across the UK, strategic plans for the NHS foresee a broader role for pharmacists and chief pharmaceutical officers have clearly indicated that they want pharmacists to take on a greater clinical role. The summary care record, as a stepping stone to full health record read and write access, is about to arrive in pharmacies across England.

Capacity pressures are very real in all the UK's health systems. All this ought to point the way to greater freedom for pharmacists to act within their scope of competence, which would be good for patients, whose access to healthcare will not be blocked by unnecessary bureaucracy, and positive for general practice and A&E, as pharmacists will be able to deal with more situations and avoid putting further pressure on these stretched services.

This is a natural progression in the role of pharmacists and exactly the sort of new model that the NHS needs to both meet its capacity challenges and improve the patient experience. Qualifications for pharmacists to prescribe must be fit for purpose to allow the sector to deliver at scale. Let us kick-start discussions and work with the NHS to ensure that community pharmacy plays its full part in meeting the ever growing demands on the system.

Unnecessary restrictions stop pharmacists from prescribing