Insight Online – November 2024

PDA highlights government consultation ‘Change NHS’
 

The UK government is currently consulting the public and healthcare professionals on the future of the NHS which will help shape a 10-year health plan for England. We will be responding to the ‘Change NHS’ consultation and are encouraging members to also share their views.The government is asking for responses to the ‘Change NHS’ consultation’s initial questions to be submitted by 2 December and individual responses can be submitted by clicking here. The government also plans to release the 10-year health plan in Spring of 2025.

The consultation focuses on 3 big shifts in healthcare which are:

• Moving more care from hospitals to communities
• Making better use of technology in health and care
• Focussing on preventing sickness, not just treating it.

PDA responds to GPhC’s consultation on providing pharmacy services at a distance
 

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has been consulting between 18 September 2024 and 9 October 2024 on their changes to the ‘guidance for registered pharmacies providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet.’

The GPhC has provided a very short timeframe of approximately 3 weeks for responses to this important proposed revised guidance. The GPhC says that it needs to review the current guidance as it has identified some changes it wants to make to improve patient safety.

The main proposed changes include:

1. Strengthening safeguards for people using online services
2. Selecting the appropriate mode of consultation
3. Superintendent pharmacists and pharmacy owners both being responsible for meeting the guidance
4. Being able to select a preferred prescription medicine during a consultation.

NAWP encourages pharmacist employers to adopt the Safe Spaces scheme
 

Yesterday marked the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign that calls for an end to violence against women and girls. The campaign runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. To mark the campaign, the PDA NAWP Network is highlighting Safe Spaces, a scheme that offers people experiencing domestic abuse a safe space to reach out for support.

UK SAYS NO MORE, a national campaign to end domestic abuse, is working with pharmacies across the UK to introduce Safe Spaces in their consultation rooms. These Safe Spaces are designed to provide a safe and discreet way for victims of domestic violence to contact friends and family and specialist support services.

The new scheme replaces ‘Ask for ANI’, as part of the next stage in the campaign to end domestic violence. Safe Spaces differs from the Ask for ANI codeword in that it is a self-service model and the role of the staff member is only to provide a quiet and private space.