NHS England has rolled out the next phase of its clinical pharmacists in general practice programme, this offers to partially fund the recruitment and first three years of employment for clinical pharmacists. The scheme is backed by the BMA, RCGP and Health Education England.
NHS England has rolled out the next phase of its clinical pharmacists in general practice programme, which offers to partially fund the recruitment and first three years of employment for clinical pharmacists. The scheme is backed by the British Medical Association, Royal College of General Practitioners and Health Education England.
To apply providers must meet a number of criteria, including:
- Being able to demonstrate that they are working at scale, across a minimum population of at least 30,000.
- The role of the clinical pharmacists must be clinical and patient facing and support people living in the community, including those in care homes.
- Clinical pharmacists must be embedded within practices and be fully integrated members of a clinical multi-disciplinary team, having access to other healthcare professionals, electronic `live` and paper based record systems, access to admin/office support and training/development opportunities.
- The full list of criteria are on page seven of NHS England’s guidance document.
NHS England will pay participating providers a portion of the cost of employing their pharmacist(s) in the first three years of employment:
- 60% in year one
- 40% in year two
- 20% in year three
These payments are up to a maximum detailed below:
| NHS England contribution | Total contribution from NHS England | |||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | ||
| Clinical Pharmacist | 29,000 | 20,000 | 11,000 | 60,000 |
| Senior Clinical Pharmacist | 36,000 | 24,000 | 13,000 | 72,000 |
Details of the scheme, including the full guidance document can be found on NHS England’s website.