British Pharmaceutical Students Association

Details of all extemporaneous dispensing should be recorded in an extemporaneous dispensing record book, pharmacy students meeting for their annual conference decided.
It was felt that in light of the recent peppermint water case (PJ, March 11, p390) stricter rules were needed. The proposed record should include the prescription details, the procedure used, quantitative details of the ingredients and the calculations.
Proposing a motion to that effect, the BPSA vice-president (Ms LINDSEY McCLURE, ex-Aberdeen) said that lessons had to be learnt and that unlike the situation in hospitals, there were no requirements for extemporaneous dispensing records in community pharmacy. She said: "It really should be a legal requirement."
Mr MIKE EMBURY (Nottingham) said: "It is simply good practice and long overdue." It was an excellent idea which would benefit everybody, but particularly locums.
The motion was carried by a large majority.

Current issues in pharmacy were hot topics for dabate at the BPSA's annual conference

Trainees have to take responsibility and can be liable

You have a duty to exercise care and diligence and can be prosecuted if you fail to do so", Mrs Susan Sharpe (the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's director of professional standards) told the conference.
Talking about the repercussions of the peppermint-water case, she said that to her knowledge this was the first time a preregistration trainee had been prosecuted. She explained that so far as the law was concerned in that case there were three components to be considered for a manslaughter prosecution: was there a duty of care; if so, was there a breach of care causing death; and, finally, was there gross negligence justifying a criminal conviction. Mrs Sharpe added that, looking at the judgment, the judge's opinion had been that there had been a duty of care and a breach of that care leading to death, but that the apparent gross negligence did not warrant a manslaughter conviction.
She said that a lot of conclusions could be drawn from the proportion of the fines imposed by the court (£1,000 for the pharmacist and £700 for the trainee) to the income of the pharmacist and preregistration trainee. It was clear that the judge was saying that the trainee was at least as responsible for what happened as the pharmacist.
Mrs Sharpe said that the message from the court was: "You cannot rely on a third party checking up on you to excuse yourself from responsibility." The same principle applied to technicians.
Another big issue for trainees and pharmacists was the question of who would pay for legal representation. In the peppermint water case, Boots had covered the legal costs for both its employees. Others might not be so lucky and the National Pharmaceutical Association indemnity covering pharmacies might not meet all their requirements.
Mrs Sharpe said that lessons were still to be learnt from the case by the profession. It was necessary to look at the issues of preregistration responsibility and ensuring consistency with regards to extemporaneous dispensing. Possibly pharmacists should be advised not to dispense extemporaneously unless they had the equipment and felt fully confident. She pointed out that, following the case, Boots had developed a manual for extemporaneous dispensing which it was now sharing with the NPA.
Mrs Sharpe concluded by saying that she does not "think that the trainee is ever going to take the full blame, but we do have to take notice of the decision a senior judge has made."

Noel Wicks elected president

Mr Noel Wicks was elected as the new president of the BPSA. He takes over from Mr Jonathan Burton, who has been leading the sssociation for two years. The 22-year-old from Bradford university saw off a challenge by Ms Gill Campbell (Bradford) in what turned out to be a close contest. Noel Wicks can look back on three years experience on the BPSA executive, having first held the post of editor of Future Pharmacist before serving as public relations officer for the past two years.
Ms Emily Horwill (ex-Nottingham) will take over the vice-president's portfolio from Ms Lindsay McClure.
Three new honorary life members were appointed by the conference. They were Mr Jonathan Burton, Ms Lindsay McClure and Mr Niall Poole.

BPSA and PIA insurance scheme for trainees

From July, 2000, all preregistration pharmacy trainees who are members of the BPSA will benefit from a new legal defence cost insurance scheme.
Launching the scheme, the outgoing BPSA president (Mr Jonathan Burton) said that there was a realisation in the association that the recent criminal proceedings surrounding a preregistration graduate had raised important issues surrounding the training and legal protection offered to future pharmacists.
"The BPSA will be striving to provide absolute clarity in matters concerning indemnity and legal protection, put over in an appropriate and informative way to new graduates," Mr Burton said.
Under an arrangement with the Pharmacy Insurance Agency, which would normally cost £35 per person, all preregistration trainees who are BPSA members will be entitled to £50,000 of cover for a wide range of possible scenarios, including legal representation for professional tribunals or criminal prosecutions.

A more NPA like structure?

The outgoing president of the BPSA (Mr Jonathan Burton) put it to conference participants that the organisation should consider whether it should move towards a decision making national board consisting of the BPSA representatives of each school of pharmacy.
In open discussion, Mr Burton argued that over the past few years the BPSA's focus had been on the membership and the services it provided. At the same time, he suggested that the association had lost some of its edge by becoming increasingly politically incompetent. Having to come to the annual conference for decisions was often impractical. When meeting with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Education Committee or answering journalists' questions immediate responses were needed. Mr Burton added that a NPA like structure with a board and executive officers carrying out its decisions might be a better way of ensure that pharmacy students views were represented.
"The question really is whether the membership want the power in its hands and us carrying it out," Mr Burton said.

Counselling competition winner

Ms Catherine Whitehead won this years Johnson & Johnson patient counselling competition. Presenting the £300 award, Ms Stella Buchan (professional development manager, Johnson & Johnson MSD Consumer Pharmaceuticals) said that the quality of the entries had been exceptional and that the standards had been very high. Asked by The Journal what had given Ms Whitehead's contribution the edge over other contestants she answered: "It was her overall approach, the way the information was conveyed and the way she had managed to make the patient feel at ease."

Scott Dalgleish (front, centre), a third year pharmacy student from Strathclyde, won this year's Reckitt & Colman student of the year award. He will go to the 2000 International Pharmaceutical Students Federation congress in El Salvador. The prize also includes £500 worth of books for Mr Dalgleish's school of pharmacy. Books to the value of £250 will also go to schools attended by the two runners-up (Anna Watson, Cardiff) and Rupinder Flora (King's College, London). The picture shows the judges and competition finalists (left to right): back row, Jonathan Burton, Christine Glover (President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society), Mel Smith (professional relations manager, Reckitt & Colman), Alex Adam (finalist), Niamh Dunlevy (a judge and last year's winner), middle row, Anna Watson, Emma Smith (finalist), Michelle Styles (head of information, NPA), front row, Rupinder Flora and Deborah Jacob (finalist)