Members and technicians share their views and experiences.
Joanna Rose, ACT, and Gemma Cullen at G.R. Pharmacy in Birmingham are leading the way for community pharmacy with an initiative led by NHS South Birmingham in association with a number of other partners.
The aim of Birmingham Nail Care Service is to save limbs and lives by focussing on high-risk foot problems including wound care, biomechanics and nail surgery. Nail carers are trained to undertake assessment, diagnosis, advice, treatment and referral for a wide range of foot conditions and offer this as a private chargeable service to people requiring it.
With 31 per cent of over 65s unable to cut their own toenails and Podiatrists no longer seeing those who only require nail cutting, this is an important partnership between NHS and community pharmacy.
Access to the service is via self and primary or secondary care clinical referral, podiatrists will signpost routine cases to Nail Carers and encourage GPs to signpost routine cases directly to Nail Carers as appropriate.
Joanna says, "I was willing to try something new so got involved and attended a 14 week training programme at the Birmingham Metropolitan College. The Nail Care Service has been very successful so far, with many clients returning. When clients leave the pharmacy after having their toenails cut, many comment on how much better they can walk and feel like they are "walking on air!" Providing this service not only gives me a huge amount of job satisfaction, but some of our foot care customers now bring their prescriptions into us and have become regular faces in our pharmacy."
Glyn Ratcliffe, GR Pharmacy, says,
"With the level of tasks and demands placed on pharmacy and particularly on pharmacists it is crucial that our support staff are given the chance to achieve their potential.
"I currently have two technicians, one of which recently made use of the Numark bursary and qualified as an Accredited Checking Technician. She currently provides the final check on approximately 20% of all our dispensed items.
"The experience gained from the Buttercups course has given us both confidence in the systems we have in place. I am now able to give more attention to the clinical aspects of dispensing and patient care, and the SOP that we have both put in place ensures that patient safety is enhanced.
"This has dramatically increased my time to concentrate on other aspects of the many services we provide. We have easily coped with the implementation of the NMS service and my MUR numbers have increased by 300% compared to the same months last year, we are now comfortably on target to attain the 400 annual maximum.
"The elevation to the new level of responsibility has given my ACT the self-confidence to help train other members of the team including my pre-reg student. This desire to learn more and further contribute to patient care will be crucial as we hopefully move to a more service based contract."
