Pharmacy Voice has welcomed Andrew Lansley’s statement to the King’s Fund Leadership Conference that the key to successful NHS reform is for healthcare professionals in every area “to step up to the plate and lead.” Pharmacists were listed alongside GPs, nurses and others, as the “right people” to be in charge.
The Secretary of State said:
“Today is about leadership in the NHS. About what good leadership can do for patients and about how we can support and nurture current and future leaders within the Health Service.......the people that I believe, first and foremost, should be leading the NHS are clinicians. GPs, hospital doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, scientists. We need people in every area to step up to the plate and lead. No profession can be left out if we are to deliver truly integrated, high quality healthcare for everyone in the country”.
Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice said:
“We hope the Secretary of State’s comments today signal genuine intent to make appropriate use of pharmacists’ medicines expertise to inform health service planning, investment and delivery. Firm governance measures need to be in place to ensure that all healthcare professional perspectives can be brought to the right tables at the right time. GP-led commissioning can only make best use of NHS resources and be truly transformative if it is characterised by genuine accountability and partnership with all frontline providers.”
A formal NHS Future Forum listening exercise will take place at the National Pharmacy Association conference in Birmingham on 22 May.