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Chief Pharmaceutical Officer hails Liverpool hospital services

David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for NHS England, stands with Alison Ewing and Richard Cattell

David Webb, left, Alison Ewing, centre and Richard Cattell, right

NHS England’s Chief Pharmaceutical Officer David Webb has visited Liverpool to see the incredible work done at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, including one of the best Discharge Medicines Services in the country in partnership with community pharmacies in the city.

The Trust, which runs Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool University Dental Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, has helped to pioneer the service, which sees patients referred to a community pharmacist when they leave hospital. This is helping to reduce re-admissions to hospital from patients who have issues with or queries about their medicines.

It is estimated that 60% of patients can have three or more changes made to their medicines during a hospital stay. By referring patients directly to their community pharmacy when they are discharged, checks are in place to make sure patients are receiving the most effective care. In Liverpool, the service is already reducing re-admissions to hospital.

It’s estimated that one in every 23 consultations at a community pharmacy will prevent one readmission to hospital.

Between February and December 2021, 27,915 referrals were made in the North West – almost 35% of all referrals countrywide.

It is estimated that the service has prevented 1,230 readmissions to hospital within 30 days.

The NHS Discharge Medicines Service – which involves the first direct referral from hospitals to community pharmacies, and is part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework – is now being rolled out across the North West to assist in the NHS’s pandemic recovery.

 

Professor Alison Ewing, Clinical Director of Pharmacy at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are immensely proud of the impact the service has had so far – and that, by working in partnership with our community pharmacy colleagues, we’ve developed an approach in Liverpool that’s going to help others. The team here has worked hard during what’s been a challenging couple of years to get the service up and running. We can see from the results that it’s helping people.”

Karen O’Brien, North West Regional Chief Pharmacist & Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer for NHS England North West, said: “To see this kind of progress with referral from hospital to a community pharmacist for clinical care so quickly is encouraging and I am so proud to see it happening in the North West of England. Community and hospital pharmacy teams have stepped up to many demanding tasks in the last two years to support the entire system and this is another example of why pharmacy is a vital resource to the NHS.”

David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for NHS England, said: “It has been a great visit to meet the Liverpool hospital pharmacy team today to see some of the incredible clinical work teams have been doing to support patients including the integrated approach with community pharmacy teams.

“This shows effective ways in which we can integrate and work together to the benefit of everyone and Liverpool is showing us the way forward in terms of how we can do it and do it well.”

 

David Webb and Richard Cattell stand with the Pharmacy team from Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

David Webb and Richard Cattell stand with the Pharmacy team from Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, who took up post in February this year, also visited Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to discuss the integration and recovery of NHS services and to find out more about their integrated working with primary care networks and COVID-19 Medicines Delivery Unit.

New pharmacy clinical services help keep patients out of hospital with treatment in the community for those who need it, via pharmacy consultation. This helps provide support in the community and reduces pressures on NHS services across Merseyside.