Advanced services

The Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) launched in October 2019 as an advanced service, initially taking referrals to community pharmacy from NHS 111, with referrals from general practice being launched in November 2020.

The CPCS aims to relieve pressure on the wider NHS by connecting patients with community pharmacy, which should be their first port of call and can deliver a swift, convenient and effective service to meet their needs.

The Community Pharmacy Provider Board (CPPB) working group has been working to support deployment and implementation of GP CPCS in practices and community pharmacies since 2021, with oversight from the NHS Greater Manchester commissioning team. As of July 2022, the deployment had reached 97 per cent in practice and community pharmacies.

Further information and resources for general practice are available within the General Practice Community Pharmacy Consultation Service section of this site.

Further information about local deployment plans can be found on the Greater Manchester Local Pharmacy Committee website.

The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) became an essential service within the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in February 2021.

Since then, NHS trusts can refer patients who would benefit from extra guidance around new prescribed medicines to the DMS at their community pharmacy.

The service has been identified by NHS England and Improvement’s Medicines Safety Improvement Programme to be a significant contributor to the safety of patients at transitions of care, reducing readmissions to hospital.

Discharge from hospital is associated with an increased risk of avoidable medication-related harm and NICE Guideline NG05 includes the following recommendations:

• Medicines-related communication systems should be in place when patients move from one care setting to another
• Medicines reconciliation processes should be in place for all persons discharged from a hospital or another care setting back into primary care, and the act of reconciling the medicines should happen within a week of the patient being discharged

Research on local schemes implemented around the country has demonstrated that patients who see their community pharmacist after they have been in hospital are less likely to be readmitted and will experience a shorter stay if they are.

The service will also help meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal to reduce severe avoidable harm from medicines by half by 2022.

Further information about local deployment is available on the Greater Manchester Local Pharmacy Committee website.

The New Medicine Service (NMS) was the fourth advanced service to be added to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF). It began in October 2011.

The service provides support for people with long-term conditions who are newly prescribed a medicine to help improve medicines adherence. It is focused on specific patient groups and conditions.

It is estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of prescribed medicines are not taken as recommended. This represents a failure to translate the technological benefits of new medicines into health gain for individuals. Sub-optimal medicines use can lead to inadequate management of the long-term condition and a cost to the patient, the NHS and society.

The service provides support to people who are newly prescribed a medicine to manage a long-term condition, which will generally help them to appropriately improve their medication adherence and enhance self-management of their condition. The service covers specific conditions and medicines are covered by the service.

The service is split into three stages: patient engagement; intervention; follow up.

Further information about the NMS and therapeutic areas included can be found on the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) website.