The PJ Pod

Over the past two years, around 200 community pharmacies in England have been involved in NHS England’s ‘Community pharmacy independent prescribing pathfinder programme’, trialling different clinical models to discover what a community pharmacy prescribing service could look like. In this episode of The PJ Pod, senior clinical reporter Joanna Robertson shares on-the-ground reporting from two pharmacies involved in the programme, as well as discussions with pharmacy leaders about what building blocks will need to be in place for a nationally commissioned service in England. With thanks to the contributors featured on this episode: Omar Sawar, pharmacy manager at Farah Chemists in Newcastle, Mark Burdon, community pharmacist at Burdon Pharmacies, Ewan Maule, clinical director for medicines and pharmacy at North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, and Harry McQuillan, chair of Numark and former chief executive of Community Pharmacy Scotland. This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.