LPN Chairs Appointed

NHS England has announced the appointment of the substantive Chairs to the Pharmacy LPNs for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Durham, Darlington and Tees.
 
Richard Copeland will Chair the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear network and Mike Maguire will lead the Durham, Darlington and Tees pharmacy network.

Commneting on the appointments Medical Directors Dr Mike Guy and Dr  Miike Prenctice said "Both candidates excelled at interview, outlining both an ambitious long-term vision for the new LPNs, complimented by deliverable, meaningful changes for patients in the short- to medium-term.   As well as bringing a wealth of experience and skills to the role of LPN Chair, they also bring a passion for improving the health and wellbeing of our patients and bringing pharmacy into the mainstream of health and social care commissioning which set them apart. They identified the key relationships that need to be formed to deliver change, in commissioners in CCGs and Area Teams to help pathway redesign, supporting local authorities in the preventative agenda and health and wellbeing boards to shape wider service development and integration to address wider health inequalities. "
 
As one of the outgoing interim Chairs of the LPN, David Carter said "This is really good news for pharmacy in our region. Richard and Mike are well known to us as exceptional pharmacists who, I'm sure, will lead the LPNs forward to position pharmacy firmly within the NHS commissioning environment where new services will benefit patients and reduce inequalities"

Background Information about the LPN

Each NHS England area team (AT) has three Local Professional Networks (LPNs) covering pharmacy, dentistry and optometry. The LPNs are intended to provide clinical input into the operation of the Area Team and local commissioning decisions.

They are also the focus for NHS England’s work on quality improvement for the three local services. CCGs will undertake a similar role for their constituent medical practices.

NHS England has said that LPNs will:

• support implementation of national strategy and policy at local level;
• work with other key stakeholders on the development and delivery of local priorities, some of which go beyond the scope of primary care commissioning; and
• provide local clinical leadership.

Pharmacy LPN specific functions include:

• supporting local authorities with the development of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA);
• considering new programmes of work around self-care and long term conditions management in community pharmacy to achieve Outcome 2 of the NHS Outcomes Framework;
• working with CCGs and others on medicines optimisation; and
• ‘holding the ring’ on services commissioned locally by local authorities (LAs) and CCGs, highlighting inappropriate gaps or overlaps.