Issue - meetings

Joe Prince/Paul Scott

Paul Scott, Associate Director and Consultant in Public Health, B&NES gave a presentation on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment report as follows:

1.  It was a duty of the Health and Wellbeing Board to prepare a PNA and update it every 3 years.

2.  The updating of the current PNA had been delayed due to the Covid pandemic but now needed to be updated and published by October 2022. 

3.  The PNA looked at the needs of the population and identified the need for pharmaceutical services. 

4.  There was a Steering Group in place which met in between the updates to oversee the work.  The membership of the group covered a breadth of organisations e.g., the Integrated Care Board (ICB), pharmacies, Healthwatch and NHS England. 

5.  If there was an application for a new pharmacy licence to NHS England, the PNA would be used to assess if there was a need.

6.  The report divided B&NES into connected community areas.  There had been a slight fall in the number of pharmacies since the last update, but there were more than in Swindon or Wiltshire. Rural areas had less access than urban areas.

7.  The draft PNA had been the subject of consultation and there were 54 responses with 73% of these being from members of the public.  Some of the responses related to the quality of services which was outside the remit of the report, and these comments had been passed on to NHS England.

8.  The report concluded that there was no gap in provision of pharmaceutical services in B&NES and that there were sufficient pharmacies to provide for the current and expected population during the lifetime of this PNA.

The following comments were raised by Board Members:

1.  It would be useful for secondary care representatives to be involved in the PNU Steering Group. 

2.  The improved online provision of services was a consideration, but this needed to be balanced with the importance of face-to-face services provided by pharmacies.

3.  There was a role for the ICA in looking at provision in a strategic way and this would be included as a future item in the ICA work plan. 

The Board RESOLVED to;

1. Note the findings of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, in particular the key finding at the end of the Executive Summary that there was no gap in provision of pharmaceutical services in B&NES and that there were sufficient pharmacies to provide for the current and expected population during the lifetime of this PNA.
2. Approve the report for publication.