RPS England releases briefing on hospital pharmacy

A new RPS England hospital pharmacy briefing summarises the current policies and agendas that affect hospital pharmacy in England.

Sandra Gidley, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society English Pharmacy Board

A new hospital pharmacy briefing, prepared by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England and the RPS Hospital Expert Advisory Group, summarises the current policies and agendas that affect hospital pharmacy in England.

The briefing outlines the Hospital Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Project (HoPMOP), Hospital Pharmacy Transformation Plans (HPTP), the Five Year Forward View refresh, Model Hospital — a digital tool enabling hospitals to benchmark their performance — and the political push for hospitals to provide comprehensive seven-day services. It explains how these polices and drivers will affect pharmacists working in hospitals, and also offers suggestions for how pharmacists in the community sector can support HPTP.

Many changes that have come about following the 2016 Carter review of productivity in hospitals provide an opportunity for greater recognition of pharmacists’ value to the multidisciplinary team, the briefing says.

Sandra Gidley, chair of the English Pharmacy Board, agreed, saying that hospital pharmacy is “undergoing a seismic change and there are great opportunities opening up which are creating new roles and expectations of what pharmacists and pharmacy staff can deliver”.

”I’d like to thank Rob Duncombe and the RPS Hospital Expert Advisory Group for their work on this briefing,” she said.

The RPS Hospital Expert Advisory Group is now seeking new members. The group provides consultancy on hospital pharmacy matters to the national pharmacy boards, and also inputs into RPS policy. Experienced senior pharmacists, who are members of the RPS and who can bring expertise in relevant areas, are invited to contact the group’s professional secretary, Catherine Picton, for details of how to apply. More information is available on the RPS website.

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, RPS England releases briefing on hospital pharmacy;Online:DOI:10.1211/PJ.2017.20204145

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