NHS chief pharmacist visits Barrow to see impact of work to tackle opioids problem

England’s chief pharmaceutical officer, David Webb, has visited Barrow to find out how local NHS staff are working together to improve medicine safety.

The area has previously been under the spotlight for having one of the highest drug death figures in the North West, but over the past five years pharmacy professionals have been working collaboratively in multi-disciplinary teams to help tackle the issue.

Mr Webb, along with national clinical director for prescribing Professor Tony Avery, and NHS England’s patient safety specialist and clinical improvement lead Tony Jamieson, were among a group of delegates attending the Alfred Barrow Health Centre to hear how partnership working across different organisations has reduced the number of people in the town using opioids.

Opioids, including morphine, codeine, fentanyl, and methadone, are commonly prescribed as painkillers, but extended use can cause severe harm and lead to hospitalisation or death.

Among the presentations, GPs and practice staff from nearby Duke Street Surgery told how they were able to halve the number of opioid prescriptions and improve outcomes for their patients, and the Morecambe Bay Medicines Optimisation Team discussed quality and safety initiatives in primary care.

The group also called in at Park View practice in Milnthorpe as part of the visit, where they heard about how opioid reviews were implemented in the Carnforth and Milnthorpe Primary Care Network.

Faye Prescott, medicines optimisation senior manager for Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “It was a pleasure to be able to welcome David Webb and his colleagues to see this part of the country for themselves and for us to be able to demonstrate the scale of the work that has gone on here over the past five years.

“There is still a long way to go, but sharing our work as widely as possible can eventually have a big impact on reducing the use of opioids in chronic pain as there is evidence that these types of medicines can cause more harm than benefit. The work undertaken by some of the local practices has had a positive impact on patients’ quality of life.

“Our vision is to manage chronic pain management via the biopsychosocial model. This is where pain emerges from a dynamic interplay between biological, psychological, and social factors that vary from individual to individual.”

Dr Devina Halsall, NHS England’s controlled drugs accountable officer for the North West, highlighted how NHS England North West, the Innovation Agency North West Coast, Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit, and Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System are finding ways, together, to address the issues around opioids in the region.

She said: “Pharmacy colleagues, GP practices, hospitals, primary care networks, and the voluntary and social sectors, are working together with people who have been on these medicines long-term to either slowly come off them, or to stop entirely.

“As a result, people are reporting feeling more independent, having better relationships with their families, and having a better quality of life – they’re more empowered. In the coming months, we intend to take these successful approaches and roll them out to other areas within the North West region.”

David Webb said about the visit: “In one of the most deprived areas of the country, it was inspiring to hear about the incredible work that’s taking place among people with lived experience to reduce the prescribing of opioids and other medicines associated with dependence.

“It’s great to see how pharmacy professionals working in multi-disciplinary teams were able to access training and support and take resources and ideas, developed through a Good Ideas Group, and use them to improve patients’ lives.”