Seven different pharmacy organisations have banded together to form a new organisation. They have generated a document which aims to outline what the UK government should consider when creating regulations around the monitoring of community pharmacies.

The group, called the ‘Pharmacy Supervision Practice Group’, has described its formation as a “response to much discussion relating to current legislation and case law, and the intention of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and health departments to reform current legislation later on this year”.

“Seven different pharmacy organisations have banded together to form a new organisation“

Their main aim is “to develop a solution that is focused on enhancing patient experience and maintaining patient safety, [and] enables the community pharmacy workforce to maximise their skills and professional roles”.

Members of the group come from the AIMp (Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies), the CCA (Company Chemists' Association), and the NPA (National Pharmacy Association) among other pharmacy associations.

Although they claimed they were not exploring remote supervision and were focused on achieving a higher "pharmacist presence in the pharmacy," the bodies established a steering group in 2021 to reopen monitoring negotiations.

In 2019, the DHSC explained its plans to examine how regulation and performance should be amended to enable pharmacy technicians to have a more significant part in dispensing. This came after a previous pledge to diversify and expand the expertise within five-year community pharmacy contracts.

The Pharmacy Supervision Practice Group engaged in it’ first talks earlier this month, concentrating on “what community pharmacy and patient care looks like in the future”.

Head of the group, Michael Twigg, explained that the community pharmacy industry shares “a common purpose to develop a shared vision for the benefit of patients and our workforce across the UK.”

“The outcome from this work will not simply redefine supervision practice but provide minsters with the tools to transform future practice”.

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