Demonstrating the patient benefit and value for the NHS of community pharmacy: Insight from the Community Pharmacy Future model

In the face of funding and efficiency cuts to community pharmacy, the role of the sector is coming under increasing pressure. The importance of outcomes evidence (particularly health economic evidence) is being brought sharply into focus. The profession must come together to produce the evidence needed to justify the services provided by community pharmacy and to support its future development. This article uses the Community Pharmacy Future (CPF) project, and the services developed and evaluated by its team, to illustrate the importance of working together to produce robust outcomes evidence. The rationale for how the project was developed and a summary of the evidence will be explored, alongside how the CPF team has been successful in its ways of working, engagement, delivery and outcomes. The outcomes described in this article are a call to action to the sector and the profession to work together and generate the evidence needed to guide the changing role of community pharmacy.