Mr L. S. Sprey, MRPharmS
SIR,-I read with interest that the Isle of Wight pharmacy contractors have decided to withdraw the provision of monitored dosage systems to the care homes they serve (PJ, June 24, p939).
I share the concern and anger of the Isle of Wight pharmacists in their predicament with respect to the retrograde step the health authority has taken in withdrawing funding for the provision of advice to the homes which the pharmacies service. But, surely, is not pharmacy missing the point in a big way? This money was always intended to fund the provision of advice and not to subsidise the provision of monitored dosage systems to the care homes market. Most pharmacy contractors realise that they cannot provide monitored dosage systems from the remuneration received from National Health Service prescriptions. Surely pharmacy contractors should have taken the opportunity to unite and start charging a realistic fee for the provision of costly monitored dosage systems. Here in Brighton we have been charging homes for the past three years - follow our lead!
Laurence Sprey
Brighton, East Sussex