Share your views about pharmacy services in North Yorkshire
Residesnts are being encouraged to share their experiences to help shape future services
People across North Yorkshire and York are being encouraged to share their experience of pharmacies in the county to help to shape future services.
Public Health teams from North Yorkshire and York are asking residents, partner organisations and pharmacies to share their views and experiences of pharmacy services.
They want to know whether people think existing services are in the right place; open at the right time and provide the services needed. Information gathered in the consultation will be used to complete a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for each area.
NHS England uses the PNA to help to make commissioning decisions about pharmacies in North Yorkshire and York. The PNA looks at the health needs of the population of the county, the level and accessibility of pharmacy services and how these are maintained and developed. It informs decisions about where to site pharmacies, their opening hours and what services are provided. The assessment is renewed every three years.
“Pharmacy services play a vital role in supporting health and wellbeing, with pharmacies themselves often found in the heart of our communities,” said Cllr Andrew Lee, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Public Health. “Good access to the right services at the right time is so important in helping to address health inequalities.”
Councillor Carol Runciman, Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care at City of York Council, said: “We have seen the vital importance of pharmacy services at the heart of our communities over the last year or so. Making sure they are in the right places; open at the right times and providing the right services is going to be critical as we learn to live with Covid, and seek to meet other community health needs. I encourage all residents of York to take part in this important exercise, so we can try to ensure services are based on what people think, and what people need.”
There are two online surveys:
• Residents at www.northyorks.gov.uk/pharmaceutical-needs-assessment-residents
• Pharmacies and providers of health and social care services at www.northyorks.gov.uk/pharmaceutical-needs-assessment-pharmacies-and-stakeholders
For further information and the survey in alternative formats, email HASBusinessSupportCH@northyorks.gov.uk
The consultation will close on 28th March. The PNA will be completed by October. The current PNA is available at www.nypartnerships.org.uk/pna