AQW 20617/22-27


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 15/01/2025
Answered On Date: 30/01/2025
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether he has any plans to redirect and fund additional health and social care services to community practitioners, including pharmacists and opticians.


Answer:
The Department funds community pharmacy to provide a range of commissioned HSC services through an agreed 3-year Commissioning Plan, developed with Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI), the representative body for community pharmacy contractors in Northern Ireland.
Work will be commencing in early 2025 to update the current commissioning plan and outline the service priorities for the next three years, aligned with the Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan. An additional £15m, is required to support the delivery of new community pharmacy services once the commissioning priorities are agreed through the refresh of the Commissioning Plan. However, this is dependent on my Department securing the appropriate funding for the Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan.
The Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan, developed collaboratively between the Department and CPNI, outlines the vision and strategic priorities for community pharmacy up to 2030. The Strategic Plan builds on the foundations already established in the Commissioning Plan for 2022-25 for community pharmacy and aims to develop more community pharmacy services and incorporate independent prescribing and advanced practice to support the goals of the health and social care service.
The Strategic Plan will require funding, legislative reform and contractual arrangements to deliver the full vision outlined. This will not be achieved overnight but my Department is committed to its implementation and will work to develop business cases for funding.
My Department is also committed to supporting the role of pharmacists in general practice and to support them to contribute fully to optimising the health outcomes of our population as the clinical leads for medicines within the general practice team. “GPP NI 2030: A strategy for general practice pharmacy in Northern Ireland” sets out a vision for developing the general practice pharmacy workforce, including the introduction of new advanced practice pharmacist roles. Further development of the GP Pharmacy workforce through advanced practice roles will be included in the Multidisciplinary Teams model, once that is rolled out.
My Department has, for a number of years, been commissioning a range of enhanced health services from community optometrists. These services reduce pressure on hospital eye services, facilitate patients being treated closer to home, and enable primary care optometry practitioners to fully utilise their skill mix. With respect to potential future funded pathways, a 2023 “NI PEARS Plus” pilot project, which allowed IP optometrists to manage additional conditions in the community, has just been fully evaluated and the outcomes will be considered in line with funding priorities.