The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Health inequalities in the UK are widening, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Community pharmacies are the most visited healthcare provider in England and are ideally placed to provide and facilitate access to care for those most disadvantaged. ⋯ There are opportunities to better utilise the skills of community pharmacy teams. Resources, such as access to translation services, and interventions to enable better communication between community pharmacy teams and other primary care services, such as general practice, are essential.
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To address general practice workforce shortages, policy in England has supported the recruitment of 'non-medical' roles through reimbursement funding. As one of the first to receive funding, the clinical pharmacist role offers insight into the process of new role negotiation at general practice level. ⋯ This study has highlighted lessons applicable for the introduction of non-medical roles more widely in general practice. It has provided insight into the factors that can influence role negotiation at practice level and how different funding and/or employment models can impact on this process.
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The Scottish Government's vision to transform primary care includes expansion of the primary care multidisciplinary team (MDT), formalised in the new GP contract in April 2018. ⋯ Although there has been substantial expansion of the primary care MDT, which most GPs welcome, many challenges to effective implementation remain that must be addressed if transformation of primary care in Scotland is to become a reality.