Bristol pharmacist urges change to ease workload in community pharmacies
Clinical demands increase as pharmacies look for new ways to manage tasks
Community pharmacies in Bristol are seeking solutions to free up more time for patient care as they face growing clinical demands.
Peter Thnoia, Chief Product and Innovation Officer at PillTime, an NHS-registered online pharmacy, pointed out that valuable pharmacy staff time is being consumed by tasks like the manual preparation of monitored dosage systems (MDS).
With more than 2.2 million people in England taking 10 or more medications, pharmacies are under increasing pressure to provide medication support alongside a wider range of NHS services.
Thnoia, speaking at The Pharmacy Show in Birmingham, suggested that outsourcing routine MDS assembly to specialist hubs could help Bristol pharmacies focus more on patient care.
Recent changes to dispensing rules allow pharmacies to partner with external providers, a shift that could help release staff capacity for consultations and clinical services.
Thnoia emphasised that this approach isn’t about taking patients away from their local pharmacy but providing more flexibility in service delivery.
"This shift means that repetitive tasks are handled elsewhere, giving trained staff time for more critical roles without disrupting patient relationships," Thnoia explained.
The call comes amid a decline in the number of community pharmacists and highlights the importance of finding efficient ways for pharmacies to manage growing responsibilities in Bristol.