Hutt Valley DHB has launched its Future Pharmacist Services 2018–2023 strategy.
The health sector faces several challenges driving us toward a different approach for planning and funding of health services. How we meet these challenges is described in Hutt Valley DHB’s Our Vision for Change.
This builds on other strategic work guiding the future direction of health services including a refreshed New Zealand Health Strategy, the Pharmacy Action Plan and Integrated Pharmacist Services in the Community.
The following diagram summarises Hutt Valley DHB’s strategy Our Vision for Change. The document sets out our strategic directions – Living Well; Care Closer to Home; Shorter, Safer, Smoother Care – and strategic enablers – Adaptable Workforce, Smart Infrastructure; Effective Commissioning – to enable us to meet the health needs of our population.
Our Vision for Change highlights our health system priority populations; groups with high health needs, and where we need to need to prioritise our investment and resources.
Ensuring our health workforce is adaptable and able to respond to the needs of our population are key enablers of Our Vision for Change. Pharmacists are highly qualified health professionals.
However, too few community pharmacists are located where our population need is highest. Many pharmacies are small, and appear constrained in their ability to provide higher value services.
We need an adaptable pharmacist workforce, where pharmacists can work in a way that better serves community needs.
Changes in technology allow us to realise this vision of freeing pharmacists from the medication supply process allowing them to spend more time providing advice and information to patients while being better connected to other health professionals, especially prescribers. How we, as a DHB, commission services is also critical.
Effective planning and purchasing will be important in leading pharmacists to provide the services that make the most difference to patient health. However, change must be achieved largely within current resources, and this will require funding redirection.
