The Review of Specialist Pharmacy Services in England

This report summarises the findings and recommendations of the Review of Specialist Pharmacy Services (SPS) in England which covers organisation, commissioning and funding of these services, as well as governance, accountability and leadership.

This review has identified that SPS constitute a critical resource for patient safety, medicines optimisation and the delivery of cost-effective care, and the provision of specialist advice, particularly in the context of complex issues involving medicines.

 

The following key recommendations have been made:

 

• There should be a single NHS SPS, which is deployed regionally and more locally to provide equitable access to specialist pharmaceutical expertise.

 

• The SPS should be directly commissioned by NHS England against a national specification, which provides clarity to both service users and SPS providers on access, functions, levels of service and performance.

 

• An SPS National Management Board and Implementation Group should be established

 

• Deployment in relation to the national specification from 2014-15 should be delivered within an agreed overall cost envelope.