The Pharmacy in a New Age roadshow hit the Welsh capital on the first night of the Conference. Besides taking on a flavour of Wales, the roadshow saw the launch of a magazine style publication "Pharmacy Forward", produced under the PIANA banner
Welsh Devolution was high on everyone's agenda, it seemed, as this particular roadshow took on a very Welsh flavour. Mr Colin Ranshaw, chairman of the Welsh Executive, opened the evening's proceedings, in Welsh of course, and told his audience about the opportunities which had opened up to the profession since devolution was completed in July. |
Speakers at the roadshow; (left to right) Roger Odd, Anne Adams, Sarah Jones, Andrew Evans, Michael Bland and Colin Ranshaw
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"The National Assembly for Wales is reflecting activities in Westminster," he said. "The Welsh Executive is taking on board the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's policies on the main issues, such as sexual health and mental health, and you will see our lobbying efforts mirroring those in London."
The chairman added that, in his opinion, pharmacy had entered a time of great change and opportunity in Wales with the creation of the Assembly, a fact which had been recognised by the Society by the appointment of a permanent secretary resident in Wales.
Mr Ranshaw promised the pharmacists present at the roadshow that "the Welsh Executive is committed to meeting the unique opportunities afforded by devolution and has employed a public affairs consultancy to help us target the right people and develop the right relationship to maximise the development of pharmacy's role in health care in Wales."
Using the image of "the tail that wags the dog" the chairman said that while Wales only had a population of three million, compared with 52m living in England, he was convinced that "what Wales can do is, we can wag the dog."
The rest of the evening was hosted by Mr Roger Odd, the Society's head of professional and scientific support, and Mrs Anne Adams, project director for Pharmacy in a New Age, both putting their knowledge of the Welsh language to the test.
Mr Odd told a full auditorium at Cardiff's International Arena that almost 800 pharmacists had attended the roadshows in Nottingham, Manchester and Scotland during the 12 months since they had been launched, most of whom had known very little about the New Age process prior to attending the meetings. "This is surely progress in itself," he said.
As at previous roadshows, the audience was given an opportunity to hear first hand from two local pharmacists who had been involved in New Age projects for some time.
Miss Sarah Jones, along with five of her colleagues, had set up a rheumatology drug monitoring clinic at University hospital, Cardiff. The project, which was runner-up in this year's Pharmaceutical Care Awards in the hospital care category, monitored the use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.
As Miss Jones explained, the road to a successful clinic was not without hurdles.
"Even when the pharmacy department was approached by the consultant rheumatologists to run the clinic we could almost hear them thinking ‘can pharmacy do this ?' Well, we thought the answer was an uncompromising yes."
After a sucessful three month trial, she felt confident in saying that the clinic provided a safe, effective and consistent monitoring service while minimising inconvenience for the patient.
The response from patients appeared positive as, in Miss Jones's view, the opportunity to discuss their medication with a clinical pharmacist had encouraged many of them to take an active part in their treatment.
From a personal perspective, Miss Jones said that it had been professionally satisfying actively to participate in providing the highest possible level of pharmaceutical care for rheumatology patients.
Her advice to other pharmacists was: "Make the most of the opportunities and don't be afraid to have a go. It will be challenging and hard work but you will get huge benefits".
The second insight into New Age projects which pharmacists could get involved with came from community pharmacist Mr Andrew Evans from Gwent. He had been invited by a colleague to work with his local general medical practitioners to improve their prescribing.
Mr Evans admitted to having been lucky, in the sense that he already had a good relationship with the practice involved. Even so, he found that the doctors had initially been sceptical about having a pharmacist come to their practice and tell them how to do things better. This in no way deterred Mr Evans from going to a practice meeting and "naming names".
The outcome so far was certainly impressive, he said, and would have allayed any concerns the GPs might have had.
"The proof of pharmaceutical worth is in the financial savings — and they are significant," Mr Evans said. He was able to report that over an 18-month period the practice had moved from being 13 per cent overspent on antibiotics to a 3 per cent underspend, a saving of £195,000.
So the doctors were happy but was he?
"I find the work enjoyable, varied and interesting," Mr Evans said. "I get great professional satisfaction — how many community pharmacists in the audience are bored stiff with counting tablets every day? I know I was."
Mr Evans's plea to his colleagues was: "If you feel there is an opportunity, then you should take it. It really is in your interest, as well as the GPs'. Just saying you have not got the time is not a good enough reason."
After a crash-course in public relations and stress management delivered by Mr Michael Bland, a consultant, Mr Odd finished the evening by announcing the launch of "Pharmacy Forward", a new document designed to give pharmacists some direction and support in their efforts to develop pharmaceutical services.