Category: News

The community pharmacy network in Northern Ireland has administered over 100,000 Covid-19 vaccines since taking up the vaccine programme in late March. As focus now turns to the booster programme, Community Pharmacy NI are calling on the Department of Health to expand the provision of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in local pharmacies when the booster vaccine is rolled-out in the autumn.

With more vaccine options becoming available in Northern Ireland, local community pharmacies are keen to play a bigger role in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine programme with pharmacies able to vaccinate all age-cohorts. This will allow for other vaccinators to shift focus to other aspects of healthcare, and for community pharmacists to become the central vaccinating team within primary care.

Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene said:

“Bringing community pharmacy into the Covid-19 vaccination programme has hugely enhanced access to the vaccine within local communities throughout Northern Ireland. Patients have had the option to receive their vaccine locally at a convenient location and from a health care professional, that they know and trust. The feedback we have been receiving is that patients really welcome the vaccine being available from pharmacies and that is incredible endorsement for the service. I would like the thank our community pharmacy teams for the rapid and professional manner in which the service has been rolled out, whilst running alongside the delivery of existing community pharmacy services.

“As attention moves to the booster vaccine, pharmacy is ideally placed to play an integral role in the roll-out of the programme to all patient groups. Community pharmacists have displayed real flexibility and clinical skill in the efficient manner of which they have administered the vaccine so far. This can be replicated across all age cohorts, and we urge the Department of Health to consider community pharmacy as the first-choice vaccine provider, allowing other health services to focus on healthcare provision for those most unwell and vulnerable.

Community Pharmacist, David McCrea, said:

“It has been great to be able to vaccinate our own patients and the familiar faces that we see every day, helping to protect both them and their families against Covid-19. Since the roll-out began, patients have commented on how easy it is to get the vaccine at their local pharmacy. Looking towards the autumn, we want to play a bigger role in the vaccine booster programme and from the initial success of our vaccination programme, it is clear our teams are agile, capable and professional in providing the vaccine to our communities. It only makes sense for this programme to be expanded to all ages when the range and supply of vaccines is greater and for the winter flu vaccine to also be provided through community pharmacies.

“We are also pleased to be able to offer the vaccine as it means we are able to support our patients who we know well, addressing any concerns they have and delivering a booster service ensures we can continue to provide this important level of care.”

By Pam Cameron MLA, Chair of the All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy

Carried out by leading global accountancy firm, KPMG, the report examines the value community pharmacy delivers both in terms of direct and indirect contributions to the health and social care system and the wider Northern Ireland economy. This new evidence demands action within the rebuilding programme to maximise the role of community pharmacy and ensure the sector’s full integration within new health service structures.

As Chair of the All-Party Group on Community Pharmacy, the report cements in my mind the multi-faceted, often intangible benefits, community pharmacy brings to patients, local communities, and our wider society. The report also brings clarity to the rising cost-base for community pharmacy contractors and the need for an appropriate level of sustained central investment to underpin services.

As the only open-access health care provider in primary care, during the Covid-19 pandemic, community pharmacy played a vital role, but like other sectors of health care, the sector’s workforce is left beleaguered from the challenge. I believe it is essential for Government to recognise this and put the necessary measures in place to allow our pharmacy network to move forward positively so that it is in a stronger position to lend its shoulder to the wheel when called upon to face future public health challenges.

The pandemic brought into sharp focus the tremendous agility of the pharmacy network. Despite unrelenting pressures community pharmacy teams stood strong, launching new services to support their patients. Pandemic services were implemented rapidly and professionally to the benefit of both the public and the health service The numbers speak for themselves with over 75,000 Covid vaccines administered within 10 weeks, over 60,000 emergency supplies of medicines being made over an 8-month period and typically 150,000 vulnerable patients having medicines delivered each month.

It is important to learn from this as we carefully consider future health service models. Fresh thinking is called for to move community pharmacy from the reserve list to occupy a seat front and centre within new health service structures. For this a sea change in attitudes is needed. Taking Covid vaccinations for example, everyone acknowledges the overall programme as a huge success, but many also ask why, as the only direct-access service provider at that time, community pharmacy was not included within the first phase of vaccination roll-out? This was arguably a missed opportunity and one we must learn from. For many a community pharmacy-centred vaccination service seems like the most sustainable, cost-effective solution for the health service moving forward.

The KPMG report makes it clear that for society to continue to reap its rewards from community pharmacy, a sustained investment and long-term plan is required to place the sector on a more secure footing. Pre-pandemic times saw community pharmacy grappling with a legacy of persistent funding and workforce difficulties, we now have a collective responsibility to ensure that we do not return to these dark times. I note and welcome the collaborative approaches during the pandemic period which led to Minister Swann securing additional investments to sustain the sector, however much of this was a short-term investment and it seems clear that now a longer-term view is called for to allow the sector to reset as it emerges from the pandemic challenge. Fundamentally a long-term plan is required which aligns recurrent investment to the costs of providing services, ensuring stability and sustainability of the sector into the future.

One cause for optimism in all of this has been the strong cross-party support for tackling the structural issues which exist within our health service. It brings me some comfort to see MLAs leave party allegiances to one side to work constructively together and push for solutions. This is something we need to see more of.

Back in January when the idea of establishing an All-Party Group for Community Pharmacy was first mentioned it seemed an ideal moment for MLAs to take a more focused and collective approach to the issues facing community pharmacy. This independent report by KPMG provides a clear context for future discussions.

Community pharmacy is the first point of contact with the health service for so many people in Northern Ireland. This report underscores the sector’s contribution to supporting patients and society both routinely and through the biggest public health crisis in living memory. The bottom line is that moving forward the community pharmacy network needs to be sufficiently resourced on a recurrent basis with its development underpinned by a long-term plan.

Our pandemic experience has taught us many important lessons and one of these is that we need a healthy, resilient community pharmacy sector to ensure it remains in place to meet future challenges and shifting population dynamics. It is important to treat this sector with the respect it deserves.

Health Minister Robin Swann has launched the new Mental Health Strategy 2021 – 2031 setting the strategic direction for mental health in Northern Ireland for the next decade. 

Reacting to the publication of the Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene said:

Click here to read the Strategy

A new report by one of the UK’s top 4 accounting firms has concluded that the impact of community pharmacy in Northern Ireland over the last 10 years and through COVID has been transformative in supporting patients and the health service but increased investment in the sector is required to enable community pharmacy to continue its important contribution to primary care.

The new report by KPMG highlights the resilience of the sector in meeting a steep rise in demand during Covid-19 through the provision of enhanced frontline services to communities during that time.

The report also shows a minimum 16% increase in the basic annual cost of providing commissioned services from £126million in 2011/12 to £146million in 2020/21*, as well as an increase in workload with dispensing activity and other pharmacy services up by 49%.

The report comes 16 months after community pharmacists had unanimously voted to take industrial action following years of funding shortfalls by the Department of Health. This planned action was paused when the pandemic struck in March 2020 and pharmacies took the decision to remain open and provide an uninterrupted service to patients.

In response to the latest report, Community Pharmacy NI is calling on the Department of Health to consider the report’s findings as attention turns to transformation of the health service, and within that, the changes needed in primary care services.

Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene said:

“This report shows the reality of the community pharmacy response during COVID and the costings for community pharmacy services in Northern Ireland. Since 2011, we have seen rising costs and an overall increase in service provision so on-going and enhanced investment in the sector is required.

“With continued pressures on the health service, community pharmacies have, and will continue to see, an increased reliance on the service by patients with an associated increase in costs, dispensing and services over the next ten years. Funding therefore must match this rise in demand to ensure the correct provision of care is afforded to patients.

“In early 2020, the community pharmacy network was in crisis. Our pharmacists had reached breaking point and voted in favour of industrial action. When the pandemic arrived, we put aside these long-standing issues to support the patients reliant on our services at a time when many services closed.

“The Health Minister recognised the pressure and allocated the funds required to meet pandemic demand in July 2020. However, this funding only addressed issues for one year and meant that community pharmacy contractors could remain open to support patients at a time of national crisis. This level of funding needs to be recurrent, matched to the cost of providing the service and a long-term solution is now needed.

“As we move out of the pandemic, and talk turns to transformation, it is imperative that community pharmacy is part of the discussion around planning for primary care. We have proven time and time again that we are a vital component part of the health service. Investment and forward planning are now required for our services to be elevated so we can continue to support our communities.”

Vice Chair of Community Pharmacy NI, Peter Rice said:

“Working on the ground in my pharmacy, I see daily the impact of the increasing demand for services. This has been going on for years and there is a need for sustained long-term investment in the service.

“We have never been busier, with patients seeking advice and needing dispensed medicines and other services on a wider scale than we have seen before. We are now the first point of contact for many patients with health queries, we want to support patients and indeed do more, but we need the investment aligned to our costs and we need stability to plan for an increased role and offering going forward.

“The past fifteen months have brought an insurmountable amount of pressure, but pre-Covid we were in crisis. We had been pushed to our limit and were calling out for the Department to intervene and provide desperately needed funding. The sense of urgency has not left us. The pandemic meant we were focused on supporting patients through the worst health emergency in a generation, but our need for proper funding and planning is still apparent.

“The pandemic highlighted the agility of our network, with pharmacies adapting their premises and working practices overnight in many cases. Despite the unrelenting pressures the network was facing we stood up during the health emergency, launching new services to respond to the pandemic, ensuring all patients had the correct medicines and, most recently, administering the COVID vaccine with over 70,000 people having accessed their vaccine within their community pharmacy.  

“Community pharmacy is the heartbeat of our neighbourhoods, with many of our patients coming to us when they needed help most. Through sustained funding and forward-thinking planning, we have the opportunity to continue to offer first class primary care to our communities. We implore the Department to look at this insightful report, recognise the value of community pharmacy, and allocate the much-needed investment to allow community pharmacy teams to play their part in the transformation of a stretched health service, ensuring patients across Northern Ireland can continue to access both the existing and enhanced healthcare services they need and deserve.”

Notes to Editor *The baseline for HSC commissioned services, factors in the increased workload, but excludes HSC non-recorded payroll costs (£10m).

Louise Roberts and Lorraine Hawkes from Clear Pharmacy in Bangor have helped launch the Know Your Units alcohol campaign.

The campaign aims to increase awareness of the Chief Medical Officers’ alcohol guidelines of no more than 14 units per week and the health risks associated with drinking in excess of these guidelines. It will run throughout June and July in community pharmacies and is part of the ‘Living Well’ service. This service is a partnership between the Public Health Agency (PHA), Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI), and the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), providing information and advice to customers on public health issues in over 500 community pharmacies across Northern Ireland.

Members of the public are encouraged to visit their local community pharmacy for advice and to pick up free materials, including a Know Your Units calculator and a guide to alcohol and health.

Jayne Laughlin, Superintendent Pharmacist at Clear Pharmacy Bangor, said: “If you are one of the many people who drink alcohol, it’s important to get to know your units so you can better understand how much you are drinking. Drinking in excess of 14 units per week can have health risks, but small changes in how much you drink can make a big difference in reducing your chances of developing alcohol-related problems.

“Call into your local community pharmacy for your free unit calculator. It’s a handy device and will help you keep track of the number of alcohol units you consume on a weekly basis. ”

Further information and support is also available at www.drugsandalcoholni.info

DUP Deputy Leader and North Belfast MLA Paula Bradley has paid tribute to her local community pharmacy team for its commitment to supporting the local community during the Covid-19 pandemic, including the successful rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination at local level.

Ms. Bradley was visiting Medicare at the Tramways Shopping Centre, Glengormley to hear how services have been put in place to support the changing needs of patients in the community during the course the past 17 months. In the flu vaccination service, for example, a record 17,000 people received a winter flu jab via community pharmacy which was critical to preventing additional flu pressures during the second wave last autumn/winter.

Medicare, Tramways Centre is one of over 300 community pharmacies across Northern Ireland currently participating in the Covid-19 vaccination programme. Over 62,000 have been administered since community pharmacy was brought onto the programme at the end of March.

This complements day-to-day activities such as the dispensing of medicines and issuing of expert clinical advice. Community pharmacies now operate an Emergency Supply Service to ensure the continuity of medicine flow to patients throughout the community – with approximately 5,000 items dispensed per month, alleviating pressures felt across the health service, particularly with respect to GP waiting lists.

Speaking after the visit, Paula Bradley MLA said:

“It is always fantastic to call into my local community pharmacy and hear first-hand from the teams working tirelessly to be there for the local community of North Belfast who depend on their services, advice and care.

“The pandemic has made accessible and convenient healthcare all the more important. We have seen this through the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme through community pharmacy to date.

“Building upon this, continued access to medicines, clinical advice and key services is absolutely vital. There can be no doubt that community pharmacy is a key component in our health service and has an important role to play in the rebuilding of services looking ahead.”  

Ryan Catney, Area Manager of the Medicare Pharmacy Group said:

“We welcomed the opportunity to speak with Paula on the work we have been doing to date with regards to pandemic response.

“Our teams, not just in Glengormley, but across Northern Ireland have shown a real strength of dedication to patients in the local community throughout the course of the pandemic. Whilst it has been a hugely challenging time, ensuring the continuation of services and support has been what has driven us on so it was great to talk to Paula about our work to date.  

“Looking ahead, we hope to build on this engagement and explore new ways to make sure community pharmacists can play an even greater role in delivering healthcare to local communities.”