§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the Community Pharmacy Medicines Management Initiative. [171794]
§ Angela SmithTraining has been provided to enable 40 per cent. of pharmacies to deliver the service and this will be progressively extended. My Department will continue to work with key stakeholders to extend and consolidate the existing scheme to build further collaboration across the primary care team and the secondary care sector. In addition, the Department is working to develop a referral scheme to formalise patient referral from care providers to the community pharmacist for medicines management advice and guidance services.
The roll-out of the service has been managed at Board level through provision of training and on-going encouragement. Linked to this, Boards are planning to put in place a number of facilitators to support practitioners to take on this new role. A regional facilitator will be appointed to establish a cohesive network with Board personnel to support further uptake of the scheme.