Agenda item

To receive the draft Pharmacy Needs Assessment (PNA) prior to it going out to formal consultation.

Members received the draft Pharmacy Needs Assessment (PNA) prior to it going out to formal consultation.  The report was presented by Anne Everden, Public Health Team Pharmacy Advisor.

Anne Everden made the following key points:-

·            The Steering Committee was thanked for its help and support in producing the draft report.

·            Healthwatch had assisted by carrying out a consultation in the areas where pharmacies had closed, such as Alnwick, Hexham and Bedlington Station.  Healthwatch’s findings would be fed into the final document

·            Issues had been raised in Alnwick where a pharmacy did not have a pharmacist available during the lunch hour.  This led to problems for patients who may be restricted by bus times or their own working hours.

·            The public consultation would begin on Monday, 16 May 2022 and run for 60 days.  The results of the public consultation would be reported on and it was intended that the final report would be submitted to the September meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Board.  The PNA must be finally signed off by the end of September 2022.

·            One potentially contentious area was the that an additional pharmacy in Cramlington was not being supported.  In order for provision of an additional pharmacy to be agreed, there needed to have been an additional 10,000 built and this was not the case in Cramlington.  NHS England would not support such a request and would consider that there was already a sufficient service during working hours and an additional pharmacy would lead to over supply.

The following comments were made:-

·            Healthwatch had received 267 responses to its survey which was encouraging and sufficiently broad to make its conclusions worthwhile.

·            The Steering Group had considered the increasing range of services offered by pharmacies but its principle focus was to deliver the PNA within the required timeframe.  It had recognised that future work should be done on a communications exercise about the range of services available from community pharmacies and to encourage the public to use them to relieve pressure on GPs and Emergency Departments.  It was hoped that this work could be carried out and input from the Local Pharmaceutical Committee would be welcomed.

·            The merger of two pharmacies in Alnwick had been agreed on the basis that a good service would be retained in the town and that there should always be two pharmacists on site.  If this was not the case, then it would have to be considered again by the Committee.

·            In general, patient expectations were difficult to manage, and it was important that comms were improved to get it across to patients particularly in rural areas, that there may not always be a pharmacist on duty.

·            Some pharmacies were open 100 hours per week and these were located in Hexham, Berwick, Blyth, Ashington and Cramlington.  Those located within supermarkets could only be available for six hours on a Sunday and so opened early on other days to make up the time.  Two of Northumberland’s 100hr pharmacies were not located in supermarkets and remained open until 8 pm.

·            There was a shortage of pharmacists in community pharmacies as many chose to work within GP surgeries.

·            It was suggested that Northumberland County Council liaise with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee to produce information to send out to the public.

RESOLVED that

(1)    the draft plan be approved for progression to formal consultation

(2)    comms be produced in liaison with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee regarding pharmacy opening arrangements and pharmacist availability.