Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment for Wandsworth

Overview

What is a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA)?

Wandsworth 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 Wandsworth may require services provided by community pharmacies, so we welcome the views of anyone living in the borough, and all statutory consultees.[1]

About Wandsworth

Wandsworth’s predominant demographic is of a young, professional, transient, and growing population, with a higher population density than the London average, placing Wandsworth as the tenth most densely populated area in the country.

Wandsworth has the highest proportion of 25–39 year-olds of any Local Authority nationally. Black and Minority Ethnic groups represented 29% of the population.

The 2017 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment identifies a number of priority needs for the population, including:

• Air quality and noise pollution
• Need for affordable housing
• Children in low income families
• Immunisation coverage
• Teenage experimentation with tobacco and cannabis
• Health-related behaviours in adults (e.g. smoking, physical inactivity, excess alcohol, multiple sexual partners) that lead to higher levels of long term conditions
• Older people living alone and social isolation
• Life expectancy for people aged over 65

Community pharmacies in Wandsworth

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

• Wandsworth residents are served by 60 pharmacies, with 19.1 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, especially those in West Wandsworth, will have to travel further to access essential pharmacy services, in some cases this includes accessing services out of the borough.
• Wandsworth pharmacies offer a variety of advanced and enhanced services, however there is substantial variation in the numbers of pharmacies providing some services between the localities. 
• There are no pharmacies in the Borough which offer Stoma Appliance Customisation services or Appliance Utilisation Reviews, although residents can access these services via other means.
• There is expected to be a significant increase in the population of Battersea over the lifetime of the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea (VNEB) development, with up to 4,700 new units built within the next three years. This will likely impact the pharmaceutical need of the area, although the exact requirements are currently unknown.

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:

• There are no current gaps in the provision of necessary services have been identified across the borough.
• There are no current gaps in the provision of essential services outside normal working hours.
• There will likely be a gap in the future provision of necessary and out of hours services in the Battersea locality. However, the magnitude of this gap is currently unknown and if it arises during the lifetime of the PNA, the HWB will provide an updated statement of need.
• There are no current gaps in the provision of enhanced and locally commissioned services throughout the borough.
• There may be gaps in the future provision of enhanced and locally commissioned services in Battersea, however this cannot currently be determined.