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Community pharmacists support an expansion of independent prescribing-based services but fear the system is “not yet built for it,” a new report from the National Pharmacy Association has found.

The report, which is based on the findings of three online surveys, found that 84 per cent of pharmacist respondents believe expanding prescribing services would help patients to access care in a more timely way.

The same proportion said these services should be commissioned “as a standard part of primary care”.

However, just 30 per cent believed that the current infrastructure is “adequate for scale,” with funding and IT described as “the two critical bottlenecks”.

The difficulties in accessing a designated prescribing practitioner was another key obstacle, with one respondent commenting: “Often the pharmacist has to pay an underhanded payment to their DPP to be their DPP.

“There is no official contract in place and training could be withdrawn at any time by DPP.”

Sixty-eight per cent of the 187 community pharmacist respondents said they are “actively prescribing” in their current role, something the NPA said highlights the need to extend training opportunities to more pharmacists and give pharmacists who have IP annotation more opportunities to use their skills.

Patients who responded to the NPA survey were “broadly positive” about the prospect of IP services, although 68 per cent reported not knowing that pharmacists can qualify as prescribers.

Patients reported being comfortable having pharmacists prescribe for minor acute conditions but had mixed feelings about IPs prescribing in “higher-complexity scenarios” such as worsening asthma, with the NPA finding that 55 per cent of patients would support this.

Three-quarters of other healthcare professionals polled by the NPA said pharmacist prescribing could improve patient care, with 24 per cent saying it offered “no particular value” and some expressing concerns relating to clinical competence and patient safety.

NPA vice chair Sukhi Basra said: “Prescribing has transformed the way I am able to serve my patients and this research shows it has the potential to have a huge positive impact on patients and the NHS across the country – bringing care out of hospital and into the community as more and more pharmacists qualify as prescribers.

“The NPA has strongly argued that these opportunities require proper funding and support across the healthcare establishment, but the rewards for patients, pharmacies and the health system are potentially dramatic.

“We’re conducting this important research and bringing colleagues together across the health system to ensure pharmacies can take advantage of the accelerating number of prescribers in the system, which represents great patient care, great value for the NHS and an amazing opportunity for our profession.”