How can pharmacists work alongside GPs rather than feel they are in competition

One year on from the launch of Pharmacy First and the direction of travel for community
pharmacy is clear – there is a huge appetite to increase clinical service delivery. Patients want it.

The NHS surely needs it. And with new income streams available, pharmacy wants to deliver it.

But getting there won’t be easy. Despite a successful first year for Pharmacy First, with 96% of
pharmacies on board and almost 2m consultations delivered, it hasn’t been plain sailing.

The Human Touch
There’s the central challenge of how over-stretched pharmacies can free up time to deliver
clinical services and then the even trickier one – how can pharmacists work alongside GPs rather
than feel like they are in competition with them?

This is a hot topic among our customers and at industry events. The good news is that there are
plenty of forward-thinking pharmacies who are blazing a trail and showing how genuine
partnerships can be forged with GP practices.

Inspirational young pharmacist Sunny Ubhi runs the thriving BSB Pharmacy in Birmingham; it’s
consistently ranked in the top 1% in England for delivering hypertension checks and Pharmacy
First. 

He’s clear that a key factor in his success is the work he’s put in to build productive relationships
with GPs and gain their trust.

He said: “The real key is to make it as easy as possible for the GP practice. If I receive a referral
that doesn’t meet the criteria it doesn’t help if I just bounce it back to them. I go and speak to
them so we can sort the issue there and then.

“It’s taken time, but we’re at a point now where we know how to best work together. If they
spot a patient has had a UTI three times, for example, they don’t refer it to us because they
know it’s likely to come right back.”

Good Technology is Key
With good relationships established, technology can do a lot of the heavy lifting.
The introduction of the Booking and Referral Standard (BaRS) is already helping to improve the
quality of GP to pharmacy referrals under Pharmacy First. Many of the early teething troubles
with the service were linked to unclear communication on referral.

I am delighted that the new GP contract will pave the way for pharmacists to have greater
access to the patient record – mandating that GPs allow both record access and record updates
from pharmacy via GP Connect.

Collaboration aside, technology is of course a vital tool to support efficient working in pharmacy
– freeing up time for pharmacists and their teams to maximise clinical service delivery.

Practical Help
Finally, it’s good to know that there is plenty of practical help and advice out there. As well as
chatting to other pharmacists locally and at industry events, you can access free resources
including this very helpful summary from Community Pharmacy England (CPE) of how Pharmacy
First works, specifically written for GPs and their teams.

And this useful 12-point checklist, also from CPE, about how to promote Pharmacy First to local
GPs.

My hope is that the new agreement for community pharmacy brings as much optimism as the GP
contract has – sparking greater opportunities for collaboration, rather than fuelling competition
between pharmacy and GP