The Scottish Parliament is committed to dialogue with pharmacy's representatives to extend the role of the pharmacist in the National Health Service, pharmacists and their guests were told at a millennium dinner of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Stirling and Central Scotland branch on December 3.
Dr Richard Simpson, MSP (Lab, Ochil), said that, as a member of both the health and finance committees of the Scottish Parliament, he recognised that pharmacists in the NHS were currently underutilised. Emphasising the need for an extended role in the future, he said that it could be achieved by a more active involvement in "lifestyle drug" prescribing and in health promotion, which pharmacists in primary care were uniquely positioned to provide.
Dr Simpson also supported the development of pharmacist prescribing and discussed the possibility of a greater role in the management of repeat prescriptions. This, he said, was an area where current medication review procedures were "often appalling".
He concluded by suggesting that pharmacists could offer a unique expertise within a multidisciplinary framework and that they should be appropriately remunerated for doing so.
The evening was hosted by the branch chairman (Mrs Anne McLean), who told guests that Dr Simpson was a physician who had practised as a general medical practitioner in Bridge of Allan for 30 years until being chosen as the representative for Clackmannanshire in the recent elections for the Scottish Parliament.
The attendance at the dinner was about 100, including representatives of the Society's Scottish Executive.