Evaluation - NPA Provides The Means To Make The Case For Funding, UK

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 04 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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The NPA is developing a 'value for money in community pharmacy' project, incorporating the commissioning of an evaluation toolkit that will empower community pharmacists to make a case to the NHS for the commissioning or re-commissioning of pharmacy based services, based on an assessment of the cost-benefit of pharmacy services.

PCTs are obliged to develop investment/disinvestment strategies based on evidence of effectiveness. Therefore evaluating private schemes as the basis for a bid to provide an NHS service, or evaluating an NHS scheme as the basis for a continuation of funding is an imperative.

Tonia Morton, NPA lead for the project, comments: "Our members are faced with the fact that from a paymaster's point of view, if you don't measure it, it doesn't matter. This work will enable members to understand how interventions should be recorded so that the evidence can be drawn on to support a case for commissioning.

"There is danger of disinvestment where service evaluation has not been undertaken, or there is opportunity to develop evidence-based services to fill gaps left by disinvestment elsewhere in the local system. It is, therefore, essential that evaluation is built into any scheme being developed, and is undertaken for existing schemes."

The project will comprise.

- Development of a toolkit, to help community pharmacists gather, interpret and present data to demonstrate the benefits of their services.

- A workshop, organised by NPA, delivered by the researchers and others, to launch the workbook and explain its use.

The project is expected to be completed in the autumn.

National Pharmacy Association