From Mr D. G. Williams, MRPharmS
SIR,-With reference to the "Broad Spectrum" article entitled "Seeing is believing" (PJ, June 24, p949), it seems to me that far from being "the interface that matters", the pharmacy counter is nothing less than a barrier to professionalism.
Surely the only interface that matters is the non-physical division which exists between patient and pharmacist during a professional consultation, across which discussion of private health concerns can take place unimpeded. I fail to understand what contribution a shop counter can possibly make to the resolution of patients' health problems, which are matters for discussion in the privacy of a consulting room.
Pruritus ani and troublesome flatulence, for example, are hardly conditions for elaboration under circumstances where any Tom, Dick or Harry is within earshot, but they can, in privacy, be announced and considered without embarrassment, and in plain language if desired. I think that a consulting room, however small through pressure of space it may have to be, should be a distinguishing feature of every pharmacy.
As for the need for arrogance in proclaiming the role of a pharmacist, one has only to reflect upon the attitude always hoped for by patients when consulting a health professional - one of quiet confidence, understanding and knowledgeable efficiency. Arrogance is nothing but a revelation of deficiency in those of whose behaviour it is a part.
A pharmacist should, as many already are, be regarded by other members of the public as a professional of unhurried quietude, ready, above all else, to listen and to provide sound counsel as and when needed. The shop, which often generates that vital 20 per cent of business needed to keep the place viable, should be so organised and staffed as to need a minimum of attention by the pharmacist, whose main occupation should be contact with patients.
David Williams
Eltham, London SE9