How do pharmacists help deliver NHS RightCare?

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has requested real-world examples of how pharmacists reduce unwarranted variation in patient care. These will be added to an existing database of case studies.

The expanding database is part of a wider RPS exploration of how pharmacists can improve the care pathway: the route a patient takes from first contact with a healthcare provider to completion of their treatment, or long-term management of their condition.

This ties into NHS England’s RightCare programme, which aims to minimise unjustified variation in the level of healthcare offered around the country, while making the best use of NHS resources. In November 2017 the RPS released a briefing on NHS RightCare.

The Society is keen to demonstrate how pharmacists can support the delivery of NHS RightCare objectives. Medicines optimisation is a central feature of the programme, and the NHS references the Society’s Medicines Optimisation Hub as a good source of guidance.

Community pharmacists who have helped reduce unwarranted healthcare variation can submit their own case studies to Heidi.wright@rpharms.com