Councillor Nicholson arrived for the start of this item (14:07)

Vivek Soni (Deputy Chief Pharmacist, UHP) and Kandarp Thakkar (Chief Pharmacist, UHP) presented the UHP Pharmacy Update to the Board and discussed:

a)    The change of outpatient pharmacy service at University Hospitals Plymouth (UHP) from Lloyds to Boots pharmacy;

b)    Challenges faced by the previous provider in meeting the changing needs of patients and the organisation;

c)    The limited capacity of the pharmacy’s previous location, and challenges meeting demand;

d)    The decision to re-tender the pharmacy contract upon expiry of the existing contract;

e)    Benefits of the newly commissioned service including a new, larger location, ability to collect non-urgent prescriptions from community Boots pharmacies, a courier service, an electronic encrypted prescription system, an enhanced retail offering, and expanded hours of opening, including a Saturday service;

f)     Mitigating measures to ensure accessibility, including priority parking spaces at the front door, disabled parking within the multi-storey car park, a mobility shuttle, more seating and a larger waiting-area, prescription tracking software and displays, and text messaging service;

g)    Recognition of a challenging start to the new contract, and a poor resulting experience for customers;

h)    Issues at the beginning of the new contract had included the changeover of some staff, unfulfilled prescriptions, critical IT and network failures at the Trust, medication stock shortages, issues with the text service, and issues with effectively communicating new systems of practise to medical professionals and the public;

i)     Cooperative work conducted between Boots and the Trust to overcome these start-up challenges had resulted in improved signage, the re-design of the waiting area, additional staff appointments, temporary re-allocation of staff with expertise, the addition of extra community stores for collection, and improvements to the electronic prescription service;

j)     Current performance of the outpatient pharmacy was good, and the majority of teething problems had been resolved. Prescription fulfilment had increased, waiting times had reduced, and no patient complaints had been received in June;

k)    A patient experience survey would be launched at the end of the first quarter;

In response to questions, the Board discussed:

l)     National medication shortages and supply chain fragility requiring informed forward planning;

m)  Hours of opening would be reviewed based on demand;

n)    Healthwatch patient experience feedback had improved, with no complaints received since April 2024;

o)    Recognition of challenges faced by community pharmacy across the country;

p)    Around 50% of prescriptions were collected close to home. There was no evidence that community pharmacies received an unworkable burden from the devolution of these prescriptions and there were systems in place to tack and monitor demand;

q)    A positive trend in pharmacy performance and patient experience since the commencement of the new contract.

The Committee agreed:

1.    To request further information from NHS Devon to clarify if community pharmacy performance was shared with the UHP Outpatient Pharmacy, to monitor the impact of devolving prescriptions;

2.    To thank Vivek Soni and Kandarp Thakkar for their attendance today and for the work undertaken to improve UHP Outpatient Pharmacy performance;

3.    To note the report.