From "Concerned Pharmacist"
SIR,—I read with interest Mr McConochie's response to Mr Mahmood's letter (PJ, October 16, p638).
I fully advocate the need for a system which overseas-qualified pharmacists must go through in order to gain registration in Britain. However, I sincerely believe that this system should be universal and apply to all pharmacists requiring registration here.
I object to the legislation that automatically allows our colleagues who have qualified as pharmacists in countries belonging to the European Community to gain immediate and untested registration in Britain.
I base my thoughts on a personal experience, which I have had recently with a pharmacist who qualified a number of years ago in an EC member state. This pharmacist gained automatic registration here. However, I compare his abilities to those of pharmacy graduates at the start of their preregistration year. The person concerned has yet to overcome the language barrier in order to communicate effectively with and instill confidence in patients. This has so far led to an incorrect over-the-counter product recommendation and a dispensing error for a child's prescription. In addition, the pharmacist lacks confidence in answering the telephone and has little or no working knowledge of the day-to-day reference sources used by community pharmacists, such as the Drug Tariff.
It seems ridiculous that simple membership of the EC allows such automatic registration for our colleagues. Certainly no British-educated and trained pharmacy graduate would be allowed to register with the same level of knowledge as the person concerned.
I suggest that all overseas pharmacists wishing to register in Britain be required to, at least, undertake the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's registration examination. Only then can the Society ensure that "all pharmacists have the vital requisite skills necessary for practice".
"Concerned Pharmacist"
297/15