Show Notes
The ‘NHS mental health implementation plan 2019/20–2023/24’, published by NHS England in July 2019, identified a need for “new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care” to support 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illness (SMI).
With many of these patients on psychotropic medication, such as clozapine, lithium, valproate and antidepressants, to treat a range of conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and eating disorders, the plan aimed to recruit 260 pharmacists into integrated community care teams by April 2024.
However, an investigation by The Pharmaceutical Journal in May 2024 revealed that there are 160.95 whole-time equivalent pharmacists in adult SMI community services across 43 out of 49 mental health trusts that responded to a freedom of information request.
In this ‘Spotlight’ episode of The PJ Pod, Carolyn Wickware, executive editor, and reporter Tammy Lovell discuss the funding that was offered to set up these teams and how it was used, and what happens now that the implementation plan has ended.
This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.
More from The PJ Pod
For Tase Oputu, becoming the first president of the Royal College of Pharmacy is “the greatest honour of my career”, and she says the move to a royal college is already changing how pharmacy is received by policymakers.
In this episode of Pharmacy Inside Jobs, senior editor, research and learning Alex Clabburn talks to Ed Hindle.
Electronic Prescription System (EPS) nominations connect patients with the pharmacy where they can collect their medication – and often access other services, help and advice while they’re there.
In this episode of Pharmacy Inside Jobs, Joanna Robertson, senior clinical reporter, talks to Mark Stuart, a sports pharmacist whose 25-year career has spanned Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth games, as well as anti-doping education at the International Testing Agency.
In this episode of The PJ Pod, senior features editor Siobhan Chan examines how the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is being communicated outside of traditional clinical and policy settings.