In the session we were joined by Jonathan Carney, Director Of Innovation and Strategy, Julian Snape, Head of Consultancy, and Solutions Director Chris James.
We discussed some trends and developments in prescribing generally, looked into the rise of immuno-oncology prescribing, explored some of the personas now involved in the landscape such as clinical pharmacists, as well as the importance of localism. Finally Chris showed us the work he is involved with regarding lines of therapy and patient pipelines.
Some questions we received before and during the webinar, we include below with our answers.
Q: How will prescribing pharmacists in community pharmacy impact this landscape?
Undoubtedly after 2026, when newly registered pharmacists will be able to prescribe independently thanks to the Initial Education and Training of Pharmacists (IETP) reforms, pharmacists will have an impact - this is part of a goal to make pharmacists more involved in clinical care from the start of their registration. Alongside clinical pharmacists in PCNs, they are likely to impact even further on polypharmacy, repeat prescribing, substitution where appropriate, medicines optimisation and a host of pharmacy-first initiatives like the ones we are currently seeing on
Q: How can we improve access to medicines when approved? Who should industry partner with to help speed up access and add value?
It really depends on the locality – there are different stakeholder groups involved in each ICS, and they will have different challenges, priorities, attitudes to industry and attitudes to innovation. What really makes a difference is system-wide thinking – both in terms of your value proposition, and in who you partner with – that takes into account impact and benefits on patients, clinicians, organisations, and of the service pathway as a whole. Come to talk to the HSJ Advisory team about this!
Q: When you speak of a "sustainability" criteria in future tenders, please could you give specific context?
This is about contribution to the NHS’ net zero targets. Although, indeed, sustainability in the NHS also means financial and operational sustainability, in this context it means the green target. Switching to inhalers with a lower carbon footprint is an obvious example for most systems.