Agenda item

5.1       Danny Ruta introduced the report. The key points of note were:

·         There is a statutory responsibility for HWB to produce one, although it is the responsibility of NHS England to commission these service, we do this assessment, give it to them and they make decisions about letting pharmacies open.

·         NHS England have confirmed they are happy to receive it in the format presented.

·         The assessment included a 60 day consultation and a mapping exercise of all pharmaceutical services in the borough.

·         There were no negative responses, just suggestions to add in small items of detail which we did in all cases.

·         There have been some gaps identified and some suggested  improvements to NHS England.

5.2       In the following discussion the following key points were noted:

·         Considerable amount of council resources goes into producing this with no real benefit to the Council, however there is some scope to, put some extra effort in to work on how local pharmacies can be of use to the health and wellbeing partnership, which Danny could pull out from the data his service holds.

·         This work would be of benefit to the CCG too: - lots of services are delivered through pharmacies on behalf of the CCG in addition to NHS England. Public Health commission pharmacies to do emergency contraception, 17 pharmacies do health checks and they reach what we can’t traditionally reach.

·         Perhaps a Lewisham pharmacy sector representative should be invited to be on the HWB – they are a key part of a whole system model of care and are an excellent resource, along with opticians and dentists.

·         Danny needs to put pressure on NHS England to deliver on the gaps identified within the next 3 years, and this needs to be managed across the STP area.

·         This was produced in house by the Public Health Team with the support of the Corporate policy and performance team.

5.3       RESOLVED: To consider how local pharmacies can be involved appropriately in the work of/membership of the Board going forward.