The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's draft new code of ethics for pharmacists places so much emphasis on community pharmacists' legal responsibilities that it could be concluded that the Society has little confidence in its largest membership group, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has said.
Having considered the draft code, circulated with The Journal on September 18, at its November meeting the committee concluded that the document was overly prescriptive and stretched to telling pharmacists that they should comply with the law. These references were generally directed at community pharmacists who were aware of their responsibilities.
In general comments on the draft code, PSNC members took issue with the inclusion of service specifications in a document which should be concerned with ethics and professional performance. Service specifications were a matter for negotiation between providers and commissioners of services. Instead, they thought that the document should take a far more robust approach over the need for face-to-face contact between pharmacists and patients. This, the PSNC said, could be used as an argument against mail-order pharmacy services.
The committee's detailed comments on the draft code have been sent to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and are to be discussed at a meeting of PSNC representatives and the Society's director of professional standards (Mrs Susan Sharpe).