The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has written to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Lord Hunt) to urge him to make a decision on funding the committee's £1.8m proposed project to test medicines management for cardiac patients.
In a letter on June 13, the chairman of the PSNC's committee for the project (Mr Allen Tweedie) told Lord Hunt that health authorities, and primary care groups and trusts across England were interested in the project.
"In many cases those bodies are keen to progress their local cardiac care strategies and envisage medicines management as a vital component of their services," Mr Tweedie wrote. "In view of this degree of enthusiasm, it is hoped that the request to fund this pilot stage aimed, in part, at verifying the suitability of the community pharmacy as a venue for carrying out this work, will find favour with the Department of Health."
Mr Tweedie offered to meet the Minister or his officials to answer any questions they might have on the project proposal.
Since the proposal was put to the Department at the end of January (PJ, February 5, p200), a national service framework (NSF) for coronary heart disease has been published by the Department. Mr Tweedie included with his letter a paper outlining how medicines management would contribute to the NSF's implementation.
In particular, the paper says that community pharmacists can help meet seven of the 12 standards set out in the NSF.
The NSF for coronary heart disease is available on the internet at www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/coronary.htm.