London & Essex Medicines Management
Cardiology Discussion Forum Hosted by iRx Solutions, July 2011
Pharmacists have the appetite for medicines commissioning
The NHS landscape is changing, the shape of medicines commissioning especially. At a time when the NHS – like other parts of the public sector – is in financial dire straits, the Government is driving a radical overhaul of the structure of health and social care services, in England at least. But incoming CGCs will be crying out of support around medicines management and commissioning. It’s time for pharmacy to step forward.
According to Stuart Saw, Director of Finance at NHS East London and the City Alliance, the recent listening exercise and “pause” of the Health and Social Care Bill’s journey through Parliament has not resulted in substantial changes to the direction of travel. “Irrespective of what people thought the pause might bring, the momentum was already there before the pause was called and it’s impossible to turn around,” he told guests at a cardiology discussion forum, held by iRx Solutions in London last month.
It is this momentum that will, in all probability, see the formation of some 500 Clinical Commissioning Groups, formerly known as GP Consortia, replacing around 150 Primary Care Trusts, which are to be abolished.
Omar Ali (pictured above right, with Jayesh Shah and Victoria Overland), a formulary pharmacist in the NHS, and one of three directors at iRx Solutions, suggests that these commissioning groups will be crying out for support around medicines management and commissioning, and believes that pharmacists have the necessary talent to fill the gap. “We have experienced firsthand how much sway pharmacists have as decision-makers within the NHS. This cultural change has happened over a number of years but has resulted in our profession being in a prime position to help deliver a new outcomes-focused healthcare system, which needs our expertise – and needs it urgently,” he said.
Mr Ali and fellow iRx Solutions directors, Victoria Overland and Jayesh Shah, also NHS pharmacists, came together in 2010 to consider how they could facilitate sharing of ideas and good practice among such influential pharmacists. Their vision: a suite of medicines-related solutions, including specialist education and medicines commissioning support, delivered by expert pharmacists to colleagues in ‘payer’ roles. Their recent cardiology discussion forum was a refreshing mix of good food, sponsored and non-sponsored presentations, and debate – attended by prescribing advisers, heads of medicines management and other pharmacy leaders.
Victoria Overland, who comes from a background as a commissioning pharmacist in primary care, says that pharmacists are now among the key decision-makers and are well placed to influence both prescribing and commissioning in the new NHS. “Therapy choices made by GPs,” she explains, “are currently supported by PCTs, which have a wealth of commissioning experience – balancing effectiveness and outcomes with the costs to the health economy. When the PCTs disband, this requirement for high-quality medicines commissioning support will still exist. What will be different about it is that Clinical Commissioning Groups will be making decisions that they feel best suit the needs of highly localised populations. We know that pharmacists have a great deal of experience in reviewing the efficacy and safety of medicines, and, crucially, their impact on healthcare budgets.”
So what did participants hear about at the discussion forum? Cardiology content was served up alongside presentations from Stuart Saw, who described the challenges being faced with the NHS reconfiguration, and Omar Ali, who gave an express tour of how value-based pricing of medicines might work in the future.
Helen Williams, Consultant Pharmacist for cardiovascular disease in south London, outlined how appropriate changes in drug therapy could support the Government’s QIPP – quality, innovation, productivity and prevention – agenda. Conversely, she questioned the wisdom of switching patients from certain branded angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) to generic losartan. Ms Williams argued that some of the branded ARBs are due to come off patent in the near future and that the healthcare costs associated with switching therapies – not to mention the potential disruption for patients – might not be justified.
“We had nine years between simvastatin patent expiry and atorvastatin patent expiry and, as a result, we’ve saved millions,” she told attendees. She pointed out that the losartan patent expired in March 2010, adding: “We’ve got valsartan [expiring] this year and we’ve got candesartan and irbesartan next year. So I think we’ve missed the boat. If we wanted to make savings . . . from generic losartan, specifically, we needed to plan for it in 2008–09.”
Stable angina was also on the menu, with the profile of the condition set to be lifted following the publication of a new clinical guideline by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Making clear that the NICE guideline was only in its draft form (when the discussion forum took place), Sotiris Antoniou, Consultant Pharmacist CV Medicine NE London CV & Stroke Network Barts & London NHS Trust, described the place in therapy of the range of medicines available for treating stable angina patients in the UK. He emphasised the need for clinicians, when interpreting NICE guidance, to “think about the whole patient” and his or her quality of life.
This is something that Jayesh Shah understands all too well from working as a medicines management pharmacist, supporting GP consortia. “With so many changes since the White Paper was published last year, there is a lot of confusion among both clinicians and managers,” he says. “But something we are certain about is that healthcare professionals care a great deal about their patients and want the best outcomes for them. So that’s our passion and driver, and meeting the ambitious goals of the QIPP agenda is also an imperative.”
According to Mr Shah, a healthy dialogue between pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists – “we need to think creatively about this relationship” – will help the industry to align its priorities with those of the evolving NHS. Omar Ali adds: “We are committed to working with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure all aspects of our educational events meet regulatory requirements. Moreover, iRx Solutions is committed to ensuring the quality of the content and speakers is exceptional. But we know that this kind of meeting is about more than the educational programme: both pharma and medicines management attendees see the value in time put aside for networking.”
Progress of the NHS reforms may have slowed, but it appears that momentum is building in at least one profession to tackle whatever the Government manages to push through Parliament. If the opinions of the team at iRx Solutions are anything to go by, pharmacists certainly have a bright future as decision-makers around medicines.
The directors are speaking on behalf of iRx Solutions not the NHS organisations by which they are currently employed. For more information on iRx Solutions, visit www.irxsolutions.co.uk.
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