This pilot will run from 1 November 2021 to 30 September 2022.
The NHS CPCS was made an Advanced Service from 29 October 2019, with the expectation that additional strands to the service would continue to be tested and developed in the future.
We're now looking to pilot the extension of the service to cover referral into NHS CPCS from additional Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) settings. This includes Emergency Departments (EDs), Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) and Accident and Emergency Departments.
This service is expected to relieve pressure on urgent and emergency care by referring patients to a consultation with a community pharmacist where they would usually have attended a:
- GP appointment
- GP out of hours (GPOOH) appointment
- a UTC or ED department, due to running out of regular medicines or requiring support with low acuity or minor illness
The service is also expected to
- help tackle elements of existing health inequalities by providing urgent access to patients who are not registered with a GP
- ease pressure on UEC through the coming winter period supporting the UEC Ten Point Plan to manage low acuity activity
An evaluation of the service will be done by using quantitative and qualitative measures, including:
- service user experience
- the experience of pharmacy staff, primary care staff and urgent and emergency care professionals
Aims of the service
The aims of the service are to:
- test referral routes for patients with low acuity minor illnesses and Urgent Repeat Medicines Supply requests from UEC settings to community pharmacies (CPs).
- describe the required system reassurance regarding the referral route from UEC settings to CPs encompassing clinical, operational, and digital processes.
Objectives of the service
The objectives of the service are to:
- test referral routes into the NHS CPCS from UECs and understand the impact of referrals on both EDs and CPs to inform future rollout plans
- understand the opportunity and amount of people in this area with low acuity conditions that can be treated within a CP
- understand and record the clinical governance considerations for establishing a referral route for low acuity conditions from UECs (higher acuity care) to CPs (lower acuity care)
- undertake quantitative and qualitative evaluation including patient experience and the experience of community pharmacy and UEC teams
This service will be piloted in selected pharmacies. These are:
- Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG
- East and West Sussex CCGs
- Kent and Medway CCG
- Coventry and Warwickshire CCG
- Blackpool CCG, Fylde and Wyre CCG
- Bury CCG
- Wakefield CCG
- Northumberland, North Tyneside and Gateshead CCGs
- Tameside and Glossop CCG
Contractors eligible to take part in this pilot will be contacted by their NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) regional team.
You can view the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Service Specification (PDF: 348KB) for more information on the pilot testing referrals from additional Emergency and Urgent care settings to NHS CPCS.
Remote live video consultations are also allowed for all community pharmacies. When delivering remote consultations, the contractor must make sure staff and people accessing the service can communicate securely and confidentially by live video and audio link.
Any contractor providing remote consultations must comply with the principles defined in the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) guidance for registered pharmacies providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet.
If the pilot is extended, pharmacy contractors will continue to provide this service unless they opt out. An opt out process will be detailed in the run-up to the extension. This does not prevent pharmacists from opting out earlier.
You must register your pharmacy’s details with NHSEI. This is an online signup, there’s no need to return a signed SLA to NHSEI.