Community Pharmacy Wales
I had a vey informative meeting with Judy Thomas, Director of Contractor Services, Community Pharmacy, Wales.
We discussed the success of the 'Sore throat test and treat service', which ran a pilot program in Wrexham. As a consequence the program will be rolled-out nationally. This means that if you have a sore throat, instead of visiting the GP you can visit one of the associated local pharmacies, consult a pharmacist, have a simple throat swab and if appropriate be prescribed an antibiotic or advised on 'over the counter' remedies.
Apart from being able to treat 27 common ailments, Community Pharmacy Wales is undertaking a 'Independent Prescribing' pilot. Certain pharmacists, this time not in Wrexham, are able to assess acute conditions, for example Urinary Tract Infections and Chest infections, and in non-complicated and appropriate cases, prescribe an antibiotic.
These are innovative developments are designed to relieve the workload on General Practice and offer a more convenient and accessible service to patients.
Challenges facing pharmacy provision in Wales were discussed, along with the new pharmacy training scheme (HEIW), cross-border recruitment issues, prescription charges, IT Electronic Prescribing and distance selling pharmacy services. I also heard about a new EU regulation -The Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD)- and how this EU ruling requiring new packaging and barcode technology is actually hindering the supply of stock throughout Europe.
It was reassuring to know that progress is being made to develop the Community Pharmacy Wales Service to meet evolving demand and that contingency plans are in place for a post-Brexit Wales.