Rule change may stop 70,000 a year going to hospital

AN estimated 70,000 people a year could avoid going to hospital if services that allow community pharmacists in England to review medications are rolled out more widely, according to new analysis.

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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) estimate medicine checks could save the NHS billions of pounds annually, with around 30,000 patients also facing significantly shorter hospital stays.

The study by the York Health Economics Consortium at the University of York, carried out for the NPA, explored the potential economic benefits of expanding current NHS services in community pharmacies and commissioning new ones.