Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment for Richmond

Overview

What is a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA)?

Richmond Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) has a statutory responsibility to publish a pharmaceutical needs assessment; which aims to identify whether current pharmaceutical service provision meets the needs of the population and whether there are any gaps to service delivery.

The PNA is used by local area Pharmaceutical Services Regulations Committees (PSRC) to make decisions on new pharmacy applications and change of services or relocations by current pharmacies. Commissioners reviewing the health needs for services within their particular area may also use the PNA to identify commissioning opportunities for pharmacies.

What are pharmaceutical services?

Pharmaceutical services are one of the many services currently provided under the NHS by community pharmacies and include:

• dispensing of medicines and appliances on prescription
• sale of medicines to the public
• providing advice to the public on medicines, coping with ill health or general health and well being
• receiving waste medicines for safe destruction

Who are we consulting and why?

We are required to consult with a number statutory consultees, including any patient and consumer and community group within the borough, who have an interest in the provision of pharmaceutical services. Everyone living in Richmond may require services provided by community pharmacies, so we welcome the views of anyone living in the borough, and all statutory consultees.[1]

About Richmond

Richmond has a population of 194,730. Life expectancy is high and rates of premature mortality are lower than other areas. Richmond has low levels of crime and accidents and lots of green spaces, good schools and high levels of volunteering. For many in Richmond, health and wellbeing is already much better than the average. However, there are pockets of deprivation, and an ageing population means the demands for health and social care services are likely to increase in the coming years.The 2017/18 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment identifies a number of priority needs for the resident population, including the following:

• Air quality
• Need for affordable housing
• Many car journeys that could be replaced by walking
• Small concentrations of relative deprivation
• High rates of self-harm in young people
• Gap in educational achievement between most and least deprived
• Risky behaviour in young people
• Mental and emotional wellbeing
• Health-related behaviours in adults (e.g. smoking, physical inactivity, excess alcohol, multiple sexual partners) that lead to higher levels of long term conditions
• Increasing numbers of older people
• Late entry into council-funded care services
• Over-75s living alone
• Hospital admissions in last year of life

Community pharmacies in Richmond

The current provision of pharmacy services within Richmond were assessed using multiple methods and data sources and are outlined as follows:

• Richmond residents are served by 45 pharmacies, with 23.1 pharmacies per 100,000 population
• All residents are within 1200m (3/4 mile) of a pharmacy
• During weekday normal working hours, all residents are within a 1200m (3/4 mile) walk, an 8-minute cycle or a 4-minute drive of an open pharmacy
• Out of hours some residents will have to travel further to access essential pharmacy services, in some cases this includes accessing services out of the borough. Nevertheless, all pharmacies are well accessible via public transport
• There are no pharmacies in East Sheen & Barnes and Teddington & Hampton which offer Stoma Appliance Customisation services or Appliance Utilisation Reviews, however given the low-volume and specialist nature of these schemes, provision of the services in neighbouring localities is likely to be meeting demand

Richmond pharmacies offer a variety of enhanced and locally commissioned services, however there is variation in the numbers of pharmacies providing these services between localities. 

Taking into account the totality of the information available, the HWB considered the number, location and accessibility of pharmacies covering each locality and the HWB area as a whole and concluded that:

• No current or future gaps in the provision of essential services during normal working hours have been identified across the borough
• No current or future gaps in the provision of advanced services have been identified across the borough
• No current or future gaps in the provision of essential services out of hours have been identified across the borough
• There may be commissioning gaps in the current and future provision of enhanced and locally commissioned services across all of the Richmond localities. If these are provided by commissioners either now or in the future they would secure improvements, or better access, to pharmaceutical services

In summary, we do not believe there are any gaps in provision of necessary pharmaceutical services in Richmond - but we would like to know your views.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your comments will inform the final Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment which will be published on the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames website by 1^st April 2018.

Please read the draft Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment at the bottom of this page before completing the online survey below. 

If you require a printed copy of the PNA or the questionnaire please contact us on 020 8734 3439 or by email to consultation@richmond.gov.uk

 [1] List of statutory consultees: