Positioning pharmacy in Northern Ireland to make the most of independent prescribing
Clinical pharmacy is not standing still in Northern Ireland and plans are in place for the next stages of development. Professor Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, describes how the next stage will unfold and offers her tips for success
Clinical pharmacy in Primary Care
In 2024, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland published strategies for the further development of General Practice Pharmacy services and Community Pharmacy. The value that pharmacists bring to the multi-disciplinary General Practice workforce has been widely recognised. As a result, further investment is now being sought to introduce a full pharmacy team in General Practices. This could comprise a pharmacy technician, a pharmacist and also an advanced practice pharmacist. “Ultimately, we believe there would be great value in a pharmacist becoming the clinical lead for medicines within General Practice”, says Professor Harrison. She emphasises that these developments have the support of General Practice because the strategy has been co-produced with General Practice.
Clinical pharmacy development in Community Pharmacy will follow a phased approach. At present, the Pharmacy First service allows pharmacists to provide treatment for a range of conditions without the need to go to a General Practitioner. Professor Harrison says she is keen to increase the scope and impact of this service. An important part of the evaluation work in this sector will be “to demonstrate that we are able to shift work from other sectors towards Community Pharmacy and that is creating capacity within our wider Health and Social Care service”, she explains. The anticipated influx of pharmacist independent prescribers will help to speed the process of translating clinical pharmacy from the hospital setting into General Practice and Community Pharmacy, she adds.
Future developments
Future ambitions for pharmacy services in Northern Ireland include three key developments:
- Making the most of independent prescribing skills across all sectors
- A new ‘valuing medicine’ strategy that will focus on environmental awareness, data improvement, and supply model cost-effectiveness
- Revisiting hospital pharmacy practice in 2025 and focusing on clinical pharmacy in the digital age
Tips for success
Professor Harrison believes that the developments that have taken place in Northern Ireland are readily translatable to other settings. However, she reiterates her caveat that everything has been built incrementally and – “things don’t happen overnight”.
She advocates –
- Engage with stakeholders to get buy-in; work with the willing
- Focus on small successes and measure impact ruthlessly. “Remember that your impact has got to be of value and importance to the stakeholders who will ultimately make decisions about investing in your roles or your new service”
- Prioritise: have a plan and focus on leadership – your leadership and the leadership within your system
- Always stay patient-centred
This interview was based on the keynote lecture the Professor Harrison gave at the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy (ESCP) Symposium in 2024 in Krakow, Poland.
About Cathy Harrison
Professor Cathy Harrison is the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Northern Ireland, working at the Department of Health.
She studied pharmacy at Liverpool John Moore’s University and later completed a Master’s degree at Queen’s University, Belfast. After graduation in 1989 she worked in community pharmacy in England and Northern Ireland before joining the Department of Health in 2005 as Principal Pharmaceutical Officer. She was later promoted to Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and appointed Chief Pharmaceutical Officer in January 2020.
Professor Harrison leads a wide-ranging work programme involving pharmacy and medicines policy and legislation. She is committed to realising pharmacy’s greater contribution to better health outcomes for patients and more effective utilisation of health resources.
She is honorary Professor of Practice at Queen’s University Belfast.
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