Issue - meetings

[Report of the Director for Public Health. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Health.]Award of contract for services delivered through the healthy living pharmacy scheme.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Health introduced the report which set out a Framework Agreement for the provision of pharmacies enhanced services .The award of these contracts would enable the Council to tackle three important issues: poor sexual and reproductive health, smoking and vitamin deficiency in pregnant women, breast feeding mothers and children who are under 4 years of age, all of which are areas that were creating health inequalities across the life course, particularly for young people, black and minority ethnic groups and hard-to-reach groups.

The Cabinet Member welcomed the proposals contained in the report which would continue to enhance community pharmacy services for Haringey residents over the next 5 years.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the setting up of a Framework Agreement for the provision of pharmacies enhanced services; and

2. That the providers listed in paragraph 7.7 of the report be awarded contracts under the Framework Agreement.

3. That the contracts awarded under the Framework Agreement will be for a period of four years. The total value of the contracts awarded under the Framework Agreement will be £967,200.

Reasons for decision

The services being commissioned are required to support delivery of the Council’s corporate plan and are in line with its commitment to prevention and early intervention, empowering residents to live healthier lives.

The Council undertook a competitive procurement exercise, inviting applications from community pharmacists to provide a suite of public health services.

The process for selecting the preferred community pharmacies was based on the applications achieving the highest score based on quality.

        Alternative options considered

As part of a rigorous exercise the public health team considered no longer commissioning pharmacies to deliver these services relying on other specialist services. The conclusion was that pharmacies offer good quality, easy access services to residents at a lower cost than specialist services. They therefore enable the Council to increase its prevention activity and achieve its medium term financial strategy.