Pharmacists already play an important role in the ongoing monitoring, support and treatment of people living with long term conditions, but their expertise needs to be further utilised to reduce strain on the NHS. This is the conclusion of a new report published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

The report, Frontline pharmacists: Making a difference for people with long term conditions, states that community pharmacists must be able to routinely prescribe medicines for people with long term conditions and refer them directly to other healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists or hospital consultants. It also highlights the need for all pharmacists who are directly involved in patient care to have full read and write access to the patient health record, with patient consent, in the interest of high quality, safe and effective patient care.

These actions, the RPS believes, will maximise the contribution of pharmacists to the management of long term conditions at each stage of the patient journey and ease the overwhelming demand facing the NHS.

Sandra Gidley, chair of RPS England commented: “In light of the funding changes to community pharmacy the RPS is redoubling its efforts to find new roles for pharmacists and ensure they are an integral part of the multidisciplinary team.”

She added: “We can’t continue with the current model which doesn’t serve patients well and puts GPs under intolerable pressure dealing with patients who could be treated by pharmacists with the right training. Medicines are central to the care of people with long term conditions and there are some fantastic innovative services out there run by pharmacists which should be the norm so that all patients can benefit from them, not just the lucky few.”