GP and pharmacy ‘friction points’ to be addressed at new joint conference
Delegates will learn how to address points of ‘friction’ at the interface of general practice and community pharmacy at a new conference focussed on collaboration between the professions.
The outline agenda for the Community Pharmacy and General Practice Conference has been released, offering the first detailed look at the sessions that will the two-day event.
Focused on neighbourhood health and taking place at the National Conference Centre, Birmingham on 21–22 June, GPs, practice managers, community pharmacists, nurses, PCN and ICB leaders are invited the free, CPD-accredited event to discuss collaboration needed amid 10-year health plan ambitions.
Day one highlights include sessions on creating digital neighbourhoods, innovating community prescribing and developing a joint proposal for an integrated care pathway.
And highlights on day two include making sense of primary care contracts, redesigning access, mitigating the impact of medicine shortages and more.
The programme also includes the National Pharmacy Association Members’ Forum, GP Pharmacy in Focus with the Primary Care Pharmacy Association, a dedicated Networking Zone running across both days, and an evening drinks reception to facilitate cross-sector connection.
Worth 10 CPD points, the conference is free to attend and aims to provide implementable insight for primary care professionals navigating rising demand, workforce pressures and neighbourhood reform.
Further speaker announcements will follow in the coming weeks as the programme is finalised.
Find out more about the agenda and register for free here.
Discover our programme of free, CPD-accredited events – delivered face-to-face and online – designed to bring you practical clinical updates and expert-led sessions. Book your free place today and join us in person or virtually.
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READERS' COMMENTS [2]
Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles
I do hope all delegates attend with the realisation there there are essentially NO friction points between GPs and Pharmacies, only between those two groups and the procedures NHS forces upon them both; and enters into a collaboration between the two groups to force the DoH to accept changes for the good of patients that make life easier for both GPs and Pharmacies!
Health delivery has moved on.
There is no need to have pharmacies, as there original function went many years ago.
While there are independent pharmacies, much of the money invested in pharmacy goes to the foreign shareholders who own big chain pharmacy e.g Boots.
There needs to be a rational look at the funding. Ideally pharmacy would be absorbed into primary care where pharmacists and clinicians work side by side without the duplication of costs/premises etc. There could be simple regulatory measures to ensure a percentage of profit was reinvested into primary care for patient services.
It will never happen for obvious reasons, but logically it should.
The current investment is pharmacy is a false economy. Pharmacists are now incentivised to claim a fee by having a “consultation” for a simple request such as a bottle of eye drops – previously this would not drain money from the NHS budget.
In terms of friction points – why in many areas are pharmacy permitted to start flu vaccination before GP surgeries – leading to a loss of income. Why are dispensing GPs shafted in numerous areas when compared to pharmacy?
Many pharmacists are highly skilled (one of my partners is a pharmacist) and we employ several, but the current structure is not value for money and anyone designing a system from scratch would not replicate the system we have now.