Palliative care is increasingly delivered in the community but access to medicines,\nparticularly ââ?¬Ë?out of hoursââ?¬â?¢ remains problematic. This paper describes the experience of developing\na model to deliver pharmaceutical palliative care in rural Scotland via the MacMillan Rural Palliative\nCare Pharmacist Practitioner (MRPP) project. The focus of the service was better integration of the\nMRPP into different care settings and professional teams, and to develop educational resources for\nthe wider MDT including Care Home and Social Care staff on medicine related issues in palliative\ncare. A variety of integration activities are reported in the paper with advice on how to achieve this.\nSimilarly, many resources were developed, including bespoke training on pharmaceutical matters\nfor Care Home staff. The experience allowed for a three step service and sustainability model for\ncommunity pharmacy palliative care services to be developed. Moving through the steps, the key\nroles and responsibilities of the MRPP gradually shift towards the local Community Pharmacist(s),\nwith the MRPP starting from a locality-based hands-on role to a wider supportive facilitating role for\nlocal champions. It is acknowledged that successful delivery of the model is dependent on alignment\nof resources, infrastructure and local community support.
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