The 19th annual dinner and dance of the Oshwal Pharmacists took place at the London Heathrow Marriott hotel on October 30
Communication and the building of partnerships were the way to get pharmacy integrated into the primary health team, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's President (Mrs Christine Glover) said when she spoke as guest of honour at the Oshwal Pharmacists (TOP) dinner.
Mrs Glover said that it was remarkable that communication had to be so high on her list of priorities. But she believed that most of pharmacy's problems could be solved by better communication. People might think her mad to say so in the age of technology, when everyone was e-mailing all over the place and one could not get on a train without most of the carriage getting out a mobile phone. But one could be very lonely at the end of a phone or sitting in front of a computer. For years community pharmacists had said they were isolated.
Mrs Glover suggested that pharmacy was not rated highly enough in people's thinking. Community pharmacists had been quietly getting on with delivering 500 million prescriptions accurately every year and helping a million people with health inquiries every day. But what was needed was a situation where, whenever medicines were considered, the next thing said was, "We need a pharmacist". To get there required hard work locally, preferably within pharmacy development groups, to make links with all the players in the team.
Mrs Glover said that the current Government was extremely focused in its thinking. With its huge majority in Parliament, it could drive its ideas hard. An example was NHS Direct. The Government was only two years into office, but by Christmas it would have 60 per cent of the country covered by NHS Direct. The Government was only now waking up to the fact that it needed pharmaceutical input into this service. This had to be seen as a great opportunity for pharmacy. Pharmacists might not have been included at the beginning, but with structured and targeted Commons lobbying the profession had got people to see that pharmacists could help deliver the Government's agenda.
Turning to partnership with general medical practitioners, Mrs Glover said that pharmacists had to talk to local GPs, see what they were doing, and find out what they were worried about. The Society's work with the Doctor Patient Partnership had clearly shown that doctors were as worried as pharmacists about life in the new NHS. Pharmacists should offer to take in a GP trainee for a morning. Pharmacists with preregistration trainees should send them to the surgery to see the doctors and nurses at work. It was all part of building partnerships.
Mrs Glover also recommended making contact with the local pharmaceutical adviser to see what plans had been made for impinging on the local health plan, to ask where one fitted fit into the plans and what one could do to help.
Also important was getting in touch with community health councils. TOP members could help with Asian groups of patients who might not easily access information available through more usual paths. And they were particularly well placed in a multicultural society to use their expertise and experience to advise primary care groups, etc.
Most important was to get the profession to pull together. TOP, a group that already had each other's support, was in pole position to link up with other pharmacists to move the profession forward.
"Together," said Mrs Glover, "we will achieve much more. We have a Health Service that is evolving. The guidelines are not yet clear. Never has there been a greater opportunity for pharmacy to flex its muscles and say: ‘Here we are. This what we can do for you. You cannot manage without our expertise'."
Pharmacists were ready to enter the next millennium with enthusiasm and determination, but they wanted reassurance on a number of issues, Mr Hitesh Dodhia (treasurer, TOP) told the dinner.
Mr Dodhia said that most TOP members practised as independent contractors, and many were concerned at some current issues affecting the independent sector. There was concern about insecurity of contract limitation. The Society needed to consider the consequences of its abolition, which might lead to the destruction of the local primary health care infrastructure. The ultimate victims would be those who depended most on the service, such as the elderly, mothers with young children and no transport, and low-income families.
Mr Dodhia went on to say that a united front was needed on the never-ending debate on pharmacy remuneration. The Society, the National Pharmaceutical Association and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee had to co-operate to and present the Government with a common set of principles that ensured pharmacists' inclusion in policy-making decisions from the onset regarding any health care issues.
Pharmacists were ready to grasp new opportunities, be it in primary care group scenarios or in developing specialised expertise. But their key strength as the experts on medicines should not be forgotten.
The recent launch of the clinical governance framework, which was really about quality of care, was to be welcomed. It was to be hoped that it would improve pharmacists' links with the rest of the primary care team.
A further hope was that, after the completion of pilot studies, the Society would be able to recommend the Government to make adequate funding available to ensure pharmacists' fuller participation in continuing professional development programmes.
|
Raffle raises £1,000A raffle during the evening raised a total of £1,000 to help pharmaceutical causes, with £500 going to the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association and £250 each to the Society's Benevolent Fund and Birdsgrove House. The photograph shows Mrs Glover, on behalf of the CPA and the Society, accepting cheques from Mrs Bharti Shah (wife of TOP's social committee convenor, Mr Jayu Shah). |
Mrs Glover received a gift of flowers from Mrs Usha Shah (a TOP committee member) |