The General Practice Forward View committed to over £100m of investment to support an extra 1,500 clinical pharmacists to work in general practice by 2020/21. This is in addition to over 490 clinical pharmacists already working across approximately 650 GP practices as part of a pilot, launched in July 2015.
NHS England is inviting GP practices and other providers of general practice medical services to apply for funding to help recruit, train and develop more clinical pharmacists.
Providers participating in the programme will receive funding for three years to recruit and establish clinical pharmacists in their general practices for the long term.
Clinical pharmacists work as part of the general practice team to resolve day-to-day medicine issues and consult with and treat patients directly. This includes providing extra help to manage long-term conditions, advice for those on multiple medications and better access to health checks. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and ensuring patient safety.