“We found that GPs are resistant to change, territorial and sometimes resentful of pharmacy," said Dr Stoate. "There is a shocking lack of collaboration between GPs, PCTs and pharmacists.”

“There are some examples of good practice out there where PCTs, GPs and pharmacists are working well together to improve patient services, but they are few and far between. Despite the fact that community pharmacists are highly qualified health professionals often with years of experience behind them, they are still often seen by GPs as second class citizens within the NHS, who shouldn’t be getting involved in aspects of patient care traditionally reserved for GPs.”
The hard hitting 86 page report, which has taken a year to produce, said that “the pharmacy profession has valuable attributes and assets, including accessibility and expertise. It can undoubtedly contribute to a better healthcare experience for patients, while easing increasing pressures on an overstretched NHS”. It concluded however by saying that there is “no doubt that pharmacy’s potential is not being realised quickly or consistently enough”.

It called for more collaborative working between community pharmacists and other health professionals and for pharmacists to be given a greater public health role. The report argued that pharmacists are ideally placed to undertake diabetes screening and sexual health screening services for example as well as obesity and weight management services. It made it clear however that unless the Government was prepared to take action to encourage PCTs to make more use of community pharmacy, little would change.

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