Community pharmacists will be expected to offer medicines use reviews (MURs) to patients with cardiovascular disease and those who are at risk from 1 January 2015, national negotiators confirmed on 8 December 2014.
The new patient group for targeted MURs is being introduced as part of the community pharmacy funding settlement for 2014–2015 agreed between the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), NHS England and NHS Employers and announced in September 2014.
Under the settlement, pharmacists will also be expected to increase the proportion of MURs falling within target groups — patients taking high risk medicines; patients recently discharged from hospital who had changes made to their medicines; patients with respiratory disease; and patients at risk of or diagnosed with cardiovascular disease who are regularly prescribed at least four medicines — from 50% to 70%.
The PSNC said in a statement that the higher target will only apply from 1 April 2015 so that pharmacists have more time to adjust to the increase as well as taking on the new MUR patient category.
But the changes are not expected to increase workload. “There is no extra workload [for community pharmacists] other than the time taken to familiarise themselves with the new group,” says a PSNC spokesperson.
Further information about other changes agreed in the funding settlement will be released at a future date, the PSNC confirmed.
