survey

Health and Social Care Bill
survey 2012
Section Title

Response
• 440 Responses with unique membership numbers
• 1.5% response rate from English membership
• Response rate proportionally higher from hospital pharmacists and lower from community
pharmacists
40%
30%
34.4%
29.2%
20%
10%
0%
17.1%
Community Hospital Primary Care
organisation
11.2%
4.5%
1.9%
1.7%
Academia Industry Retired Students/Pre-reg
Base 440
1

Do you agree with the Health and Social Care Bill and its
implications for patients, pharmacists and the NHS?
100%
80%
76.6%
60%
40%
20%
12.3%
10.9%
0%
Yes No Don't know
Base 440
2

Do you agree with the Health and Social Care Bill and its
implications for patients, pharmacists and the NHS?
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Yes
No
Don't know
Base 440
3

In my personal view, I believe that the Government's NHS
reforms including the Health and Social Care Bill will:
Enable greater collaboration between healthcare
professionals, including between doctors and pharmacists
Advantage patients through its intention to increase the use of
competition to provide NHS services
Increase the opportunities for the provision of pharmacy public
health services
Result in better use of pharmacy and medicines, and therefore
improve patient care
Increase the fragmentation of services to the detriment of
patient care
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
4

Believe the bill will: Enable greater collaboration between
healthcare professionals, including between doctors and
pharmacists
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
5

Believe the bill will: Advantage patients through its intention to
increase the use of competition to provide NHS services
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
6

Believe the bill will: Increase the opportunities for the provision
of pharmacy public health services
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
7

Believe the bill will: Result in better use of pharmacy and
medicines, and therefore improve patient care
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
8

Believe the bill will: Increase the fragmentation of services to the
detriment of patient care
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
Base 440
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
9

Should the Society continue to lobby on:
Ensuring a level playing field in
commissioning
Pharmacy representation at all levels within
the new NHS structures
A clear split between commissioning and
providing services
Retaining the expertise of primary care
pharmacists within the new NHS structures
Ensuring the public health role of
pharmacy is recognised and promoted
Reducing the potential for fragmentation of
services where this is harmful to patients
4.6%
6.9%
3.2%
1.6%
12.9%
11.0%
6.0%
6.9%
2.5%
2.5%
3.6%
3.0%
76.1%
88.9%
95.2%
87.2%
95.0%
93.4%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
Yes No Don't know
10

Should the Society continue to lobby on: Ensuring a level
playing field in commissioning
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
11

Should the Society continue to lobby on: Pharmacy
representation at all levels within the new NHS structures
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
12

Should the Society continue to lobby on: A clear split between
commissioning and providing services
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
13

Should the Society continue to lobby on: Retaining the
expertise of primary care pharmacists within the new NHS
structures
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
14

Should the Society continue to lobby on: Ensuring the public
health role of pharmacy is recognised and promoted
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
15

Should the Society continue to lobby on: Reducing the
potential for fragmentation of services where this is harmful to
patients
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Yes
No
Don't know
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Base 440
16

How should the English Pharmacy Board respond to the NHS
reforms and Health and Social Care Bill overall at this point?
Reject the Government's proposals
57.7%
Continue lobbying on specified areas as informed
by the results of this survey
29.6%
Support the proposals and work with Government
on implementing the reforms
5.9%
I require further information before making this
judgment
6.8%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Base 440
17

How should the English Pharmacy Board respond to the NHS
reforms and Health and Social Care Bill overall at this point?
Academia
Community
Hospital
Industry
Primary Care Organisation
Retired
Student/pre-reg
Other
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Base 440
Reject the Government's proposals
Continue lobbying on specified areas as informed by the results of this survey
Support the proposals and work with Government on implementing the reforms
I require further information before making this judgment
18

Section Title
Qualitative feedback
We have grouped together responses to the question “What other issues should the Society
lobby on?” into four themes The slides following contain summaries of the responses we received
around:
1 Structural community pharmacy issues
2 Patient pathways
3 Other lobbying issues or positions
4 Concerns highlighted by pharmacists:

Section Title
Qualitative feedback: structural community pharmacy issues
• Properly structured well paid service. Dispensing remuneration should increase
• 100hour exemption (remove)
• Ensure applications satisfy the PNA

Section Title
Qualitative feedback: patient pathways
• Ensure all parts of the NHS work in partnership with each other, both within the
profession and between other HCPs – co-operation not competition, maintain a
multidisciplinary approach. Need better communication between pharmacists and HCPs
• Ensure seamless continuity of care and through all sectors
• Reduce red tape/paperwork
• Medicines optimisation around individual patients, medicines management in all
commissioned and provided services, medicines wastage
• Ensure equality of health care provision and access to drugs, prevent return to postcode
prescribing

Section Title
Qualitative feedback: Other lobbying issues or positions
• Campaign for national services that the public should expect to receive from any
pharmacy (through national HLP scheme), historically national schemes have not been
negotiated at a local level
• Decriminalising dispensing errors
• RP regulations
• Remote supervision
• End of dispensing doctors
• Remove competition clauses from bill
• Removal of VAT paid on medicines by hospital pharmacies
• Ensure NHS remains free for all, and a national service
• Ensure improved patient care is the top priority
• Emphasise self-care and how pharmacy can help patients to look after themselves
• Ensure (equal) opportunity and funding for postgraduate and professional training for all
pharmacists. Training and support needs, as well as research and education aspect, to
be maintained so that highly qualified staff are available in the future.
• End to constant reorganisation of the health service

Section Title
Qualitative feedback: Other lobbying issues or positions
• Many pharmacists feel that the motivations of patient care and competition are fundamentally
incompatible, and that patient care will be compromised in the pursuit of increased cost-saving
(profit-making in the private sector).
• The RPS is being/has been ‘bought’ with the promise of the end to decriminalising dispensing
errors
• Lack of visible action response from RPS has been interpreted as RPS support of the bill and
RPS only acting in the interests of community pharmacists, and not primary care/hospital.
• Private companies will be able to ‘cherry-pick’ the most profitable services to provide, leaving
complex, difficult to provide, rarer, risk-prone and multi-agency services in the public sector and
potentially under-resourced.
• Changes have been made in anticipation of the bill
• Many questions have been raised about how the new processes will work, what safeguards
are in place to ensure service is fit for purpose at point of care – there is a need for more
discussion and greater transparency about how things will work with respect to pharmacy
• There was also some reiteration of issues we are already lobbying on