We have welcomed a consultation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on a quality standard for Community pharmacies: promoting health and wellbeing.
The guidelines highlight how community pharmacies can play a significant role in helping to maintain and improve people’s physical and mental health, with the intention to encourage more people to use their community pharmacy.
Claire Anderson, Chair of the English Pharmacy Board, said:
“It is great to see that community pharmacies are rightly being recognised for their role in promoting health and wellbeing.
“Community pharmacies already have a history in providing prevention and early detection services of long-term conditions for patients, which include type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
“It is good to see that the consultation identifies the need for local commissioners to fully integrate community pharmacy services into existing care and referral pathways, as well as educating the public further about the importance of using their community pharmacy.
“With community pharmacists and pharmacy teams already working at full capacity, this needs to be introduced alongside an enhancement in support services for pharmacists, to help them with their own health and wellbeing.”
For our full response to the quality standards, click here.