NHS Cheshire and Merseyside - Sefton (C&M Sefton) achieved significant improvement in people’s care and safety through projects designed by the medicines management team (MMT) which included working with health and social care commissioners, GP practices, primary care networks (PCNs), acute trusts, hospices, care homes, supported living and community pharmacies to improve the safety of prescribing medicines. The MMT includes clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dedicated administrative and business intelligence support who deliver expert advice and input to meet the needs of C&M Sefton and local authority in relation to medicines and prescribing.
Through NHS C&M Sefton commissioned local quality contract for general practice, the MMT improves the quality of prescribing and enables the administration of a number of medicines in general practice. This enables delivery of care closer to the patient’s home in a consistent quality assured way. It also increases capacity in the acute trusts and community trusts. One aspect of the project is work with pharmacies. Community pharmacy is promoted and utilised to deliver schemes locally to meet the needs of our population in addition to the nationally commissioned community pharmacy services.
Commissioning of local services from community pharmacy include:
• A minor ailment service
• Palliative care stock holding
• A transgender stock holding service
• A nursing home dressing provision service
• A COVID-19 medicines service
• A urinary tract infection treatment patient group directive service
A further project with the pharmacy includes the Care at the Chemist scheme which offers minor ailment treatments (free for those who don’t pay for prescriptions) at high street pharmacies without the need for a GP appointment. It enables patients in our most deprived areas to receive a supply of minor ailments medicines for over 30 different conditions in 31 participating pharmacies in addition to the nationally commissioned Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS). The service has recently extended to offer women between the ages of 16 and 65 years who have symptoms of an uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) easier access to treatment.
