Agenda item

The Board were updated with respect to the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (2015-2018) document that was currently being drafted. It was noted that this was the formal document concerning the needs for pharmaceutical services in the area. It was intended to clarify what was needed at a local level to guide current and future commissioning of pharmaceutical services. The Board heard that there were legislative regulations that existed setting out the statutory duty of the HWB to finalise the PNA by 1^st April 2015. The regulations also set out the matters that must be considered and details of the sixty day consultation process.

The Board were informed that the PNA would outline current provision, and also what would and would not be required for the future. This would then enable NHS England to respond intelligently to commercial queries. It was noted that Pharmacies could challenge commissioning decisions made by NHS England, and so it was important that the PNA was a robust and accurate document. NHS England commercial decisions could be subject to legal challenge and possibly Judicial Review. 

Due to the importance of the PNA document, the Board were informed that a specialist provider had been appointed to deliver the PNA; this was Primary Care Commissioning. It was also the case that a Steering Group had been established to agree the structure and framework of the PNA. The Board were advised of the communications process that had been undertaken as background research to pick up data to be used in formulating the PNA; this included communications with pharmacy contractors and also with patients.

The Committee were made familiar with timescales;

·  Draft PNA to HWB by 2^nd October 2014

·  Final Version of PNA to HWB by 29^th January 2015

·  PNA to be published by 31^st March 2015

At this point the Chairman noted that the acronym “DAC” should be added to the HWB glossary.

A Member commented that the PNA update report was good and added that the Board should consider:

·  What areas needed to be pushed

·  How far the Board would want to take it

·  What could be done in terms of innovation

It was heard that the HWB was welcome to make suggestions, and that the LPC (Local Pharmaceutical Committee) would be keen to extend the scope of commercial pharmacy.

A Member made an enquiry about the relationship between the PNA and commercial service innovation. It was noted that the PNA was restricted to the statutory requirements, and that everything else would be determined by free market forces.

A Member queried why the HWB had to get involved with examining the PNA’s of other authorities. It was explained that this primarily related to cross border issues.

A Member queried the statement connected to the PNA Structure and Framework document that referred to the “statement of commissioning intentions for the HWB”. It was clarified that the HWB did not undertake commissioning, but that rather this was the remit of NHS England.

A Member queried what the”100 hours” referenced, and it was explained that this was a reference to the number of hours that pharmacy services should be available to the public per week.

There was another query raised with reference to the definition of “Locality”, and it was noted that Dr. Agnes Marossy would send out further information to the Board to clarify this. 

RESOLVED that:

1.  The PNA 2015-2018  update report be noted

2.  The HWB agree to review the PNAs of other boroughs as referenced in section 4.7 of the report.