In August 2018, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) announced the launch of a new programme, supported by the Pharmacy Integration Fund, to test how NHS pharmacy, medicines optimisation and medicines safety could be integrated into Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STP) and Integrated Care Systems (ICS). The Integrating NHS Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation (IPMO) programme aimed to develop a framework which would set out how to tackle the medicines optimisation priorities for the local population in an STP/ICS footprint. It additionally aimed to use the expertise of pharmacy professionals in the transformation of systems to deliver the best patient outcomes from medicines and value to the taxpayer.

In September 2020, NHSE&I published Leading integrated pharmacy and medicines optimisation – Guidance for ICSs and STPs on transformation and improvement opportunities to benefit patients through integrated pharmacy and medicines optimisation via the Future NHS platform (login required). This document sets the future direction for system leadership for pharmacy and it summarises the learning from the IPMO pilots. This PSNC Briefing is aimed at Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) members and officers and it highlights the key points in the NHSE&I document relevant to community pharmacy and suggests actions which LPCs may want to take.

PSNC Briefing 034/20 IPMO guidance and the development of system leadership

If you have any queries on this PSNC Briefing or you require more information, please contact the PSNC Services Team.

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