Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:05 pm on 7 December 2016.
Yes, I’m happy to do so. It’s a very visible figure to think about—enough to fill three double-decker buses. We recognise that there are real challenges here and real areas for further improvement. The points you make are about old medicines and people returning those so that they can be safely disposed of, and, in particular, points about polypharmacy and understanding how different medications interact with each other or whether they’re actually counteracting the things they’re trying to treat. It’s why I’ve been encouraged by the fact that primary care clusters have indeed hired and actually employed a range of clinical pharmacists to do this for them, so it’s freed up GP time as well as improving the quality of care that the individual receives.
It also goes back to the previous question about making sure that, within the community pharmacy system, we reward quality, and this is part of a quality measure to understand not just how we dispense by volume, but to improve the quality of care that is delivered. In fact, Cwm Taf have taken a lead in this, for example, with their electronic discharge letters from the hospital service, as well. So, there is a real gain to be made with discharge from the hospital setting, through the hospital pharmacy service, and a bigger role for community pharmacies there as well. So, I’m encouraged by where we are and where we’re going, but this does highlight that there’s certainly much more improvement we could and should make, and I think individual people see a real benefit as a result of that.