From Mr J. E. Hill, FRPharmS
SIR,—I spent a lot of time studying the article (PJ, September 25, p479) that described the Society's "Achieving excellence in pharmacy through clinical governance". For a dumb old Canadian, the two words "achieving" and "excellence" came through clearly, but three others tended to the fuzzy. They are "governance", "clinical" and "pharmacy".
"Governance", my dictionary describes as, "the action, manner, function or power of government", that is, the intent of the Society's document is to attempt to exercise (and perhaps to increase) in some way or manner, some kind of control of whatever excellence there might be, now or in the future. Am I wrong to foresee more stifling rules and muffling regulations for that future?
But, be that as it may, what is the "governance" about? Well, pharmacy. And what does my dictionary say about pharmacy? "The art or profession of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines." A dated definition, yes, but a definition still accepted by the public and by most community pharmacists.
And that "clinical". It, of course, is "direct treatment", and a fact of chemist-shop life when I graduated from Leicester in 1939, but awkward and unnatural within the mixed retailing that has taken over the ancient profession. (I no longer see much difference today between community practice here in Canada and that of the UK.)
My point, in part, if it is not already obvious, is that fine words like "governance" and "clinical" do not the profession of pharmacy make. They are little more than wishful thinking unless they are part of a description that defines what that profession is about, that is, its raison d'être. At the moment, pharmacists do not have a publicly accepted function other than that provided by dictionaries. Put all the above together and hence the "fuzzy" for this retired person.
Actually, even though it be in my dotage (10 more years away), I would love to see a definition with real red meat on the bone, or is the "top-down" (governance) gristle of dichotomy all we will ever get?
John Hill
Brantford, Ontario, Canada