Pharmacy sector needs to be ready for change

Pharmacy sector needs to be ready for change

The Community Pharmacy Leaders Forum (CPLF) met on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues facing the sector. The role of the Forum is to ensure the sector finds common ground to present a consistent sector view.

The Forum welcomed the establishment of the new National Health Board (NHB). The Forum members agreed that the NHB was a positive signal for the sector and recognises the difficulty the complex structure of 20 DHBs has caused health professionals. Clinical leadership is a very important part of the future.

CPLF supports better utilisation of technology within the sector. This includes E-prescribing as a means to reduce administration costs and shared Electronic Health Records to enable better collaboration between health professionals and therefore improve patient outcomes. The interim Pharmacy Services Agreement includes a national connection to the health intranet which provides the necessary platform to utilise shared IT services.

An underlying theme of the meeting was the major changes occurring within the broader health sector and the preparedness of community pharmacy to respond to the new operating environment. The new direction that the Minister of Health is leading with “Better, Sooner, More Convenient” will create many opportunities for pharmacists to be valued members of the primary care team of health professionals. Within this team we can deliver an enhanced range of evidence-based services to our patients.

“The entire health sector is in transition and we need to ensure that pharmacy is ready and willing to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise,” says Pharmacybrands CEO and CPLF Chair, Alan Wham.

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