Radical proposals to encourage closer working between community pharmacy and general practice have been jointly proposed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the National Association of Primary Care.

The two organisations believe community pharmacy and general practice could work more efficiently together to meet the needs of patients and the public, especially in the current climate with pressures on primary care access, increasing demand and the squeeze on finances.

The proposals include considering community pharmacy as an NHS access point for minor self-limiting conditions, encouraging patient-led access to health records by community pharmacy and developing an underlying approach that aligns financial incentives for community pharmacies and general practices to work together.

Sandra Gidley RPS Board Chair said: “If we are to move away from the treadmill of dispensing to a role where our clinical skills are recognised and valued by the public then the payment structures we currently work under will need to change.

She added: “These proposals are designed to test the appetite for that, do we want to stay as we are or do we want a different role in the reformed NHS. Now it’s over to GPs, pharmacists and users of NHS services to let us know what they think.”

The RPS and the NAPC are looking for feedback on the proposals to consider how better integration of the roles of the community pharmacist and general practitioner can improve patient care.

More information and the full list of proposals can be found here.