“There will be no top-down reorganisation of the NHS.” David Cameron’s words were projected on to big screens at the journal Pharmacy Management’s national seminar for England, which took place last week

How to deliver medicines optimisation in new NHS by HSJ News

This theme was carried through the presentations delivered on the day. Talks focused on how clinical leaders can integrate medicines optimisation into service redesign.

But while there are a variety of models being put in place to ensure medicine optimisation is core to functions of clinical commissioning groups, how can GPs, hospitals and pharmacists better work together and build trust to ensure appropriate and cost-effective prescribing? Particularly when these relationships in the past have been tense.

How do you align clinical decisions with financial accountability in order to really put patients first? What role do pharmacists have in this new bottom-up approach? These are a few of the questions healthcare leaders will need to grapple with while trying to integrate medicines optimisation within service redesign.  

In an HSJ podcast recorded at the event, Dr Charles Alessi, chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners and Malcolm Qualie − pharmacy lead, specialised services, for NHS England − discuss how to get the most out of the drugs budget across the new NHS.

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