The All-Party Pharmacy Group has called on the Government to appoint a "concordance tsar" to introducing the principles of concordance to patient care.
A report on the group's recent meeting on concordance (PJ, June 24, p938), which has been sent to the Health Ministers, says that they should appoint someone with wide-ranging responsibilities to ensure the development and implementation of a concordance research programme. The co-ordinator would also be responsible for seeking changes to pharmaceutical and medical education so as to foster a more flexible attitude towards prescribing and the planning and execution of a multi-organisational public awareness campaign.
"If concordance is to be achieved, orchestration of effort and pooling of resources and ideas is essential. In our view, this co-ordination function must rest in one place. We therefore urge Ministers to appoint a National Health Service concordance tsar, with the necessary support team, with a clear brief drawn up in consultation with the health professions, patient organisations and health authorities".
The report calls for research into: non-compliance; patients' beliefs about medicines and their motivations and reactions to the provision of information and health professionals; how to improve patients' understanding of illness and medicines; the role of health professionals other than doctors in improving understanding; and the most effective way of giving patients information.
"Community pharmacists should be seen as part of the seamless pathway of care that patients - especially those with chronic conditions - need to be able to rely upon," the report says. "Traditional boundaries between health care professionals should be set aside in order to achieve this seamless pathway. . . . NHS Direct should refer patients to community pharmacies if they have medication queries or problems."
It also suggests that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence should foster concordance, since it has a strong interest in ensuring that medicines prescribed at public expense are taken correctly.
The full submission to Ministers can be found in the news section of the concordance website at www.concordance.org.
The key principle of concordance is that the patient's view is paramount in any treatment agreements.