The new Secretary of State for Health, Mr Alan Milburn, has been described as "a man in a hurry" and he has given every appearance of this with his plans to boost services for heart disease and cancer, and to downgrade the Government's (misguided) pledge on waiting lists, announced this week.
Mr Milburn has the advantage in his new position of having spent the past six months as Chief Secretary to the Treasury examining the country's "books" - if anyone knows the true state of the Government's alleged "war chest" of surplus funds then it is Mr Milburn.
While he is in a hurry to clear the desk of all his predecessor's incomplete tasks, perhaps he could spare a few minutes to authorise the publication of the long awaited strategy document for community pharmacy. This has been sitting in someone's pending tray for over a year now, having first been announced by Mr Frank Dobson, the then Health Secretary, in a speech in June, 1998 (PJ, July 4, 1998, p14).
The profession has put a lot of work into attending round table meetings and submitting plans and evidence for this strategy document. So far, it has little to show for it but Ministers' repeated cries of "Mañana, mañana". As we have said before (PJ, November 28, 1998, p843) it is actions not words which count.
As well as publishing the strategy document, it would be helpful for Mr Milburn to allocate an appropriate sum of money to allow its (what must be) warm words to be translated swiftly into action. Otherwise the strategy is likely to be stillborn and join the long list of unfulfilled promises made by Governments in the past.
The "millennium" strategy could be a turning point for community pharmacy. There is a great deal of pent up demand for it in the profession. Many new roles for pharmacists have been proposed. What is required now is a steer from the Government as to which ones it accepts and which ones it is willing to pay for.
Through his actions in relation to heart disease and cancer, Mr Milburn shows every sign of not being a "mañana" person. We hope this holds true for pharmacy and that this particular tomorrow does indeed come.