From Mr B. Shooter, MRPharmS
SIR,-Sidney Holloway's 'Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain 1841-1991' is a very rewarding book in which to dip. I find some of the events leading to the Society's formation mirror many of today's situations.
Holloway tells of early pharmacists, including Jacob Bell, being Quakers and how pharmacy practised as a proprietor provided a sense of personal responsibility, and that diligence, discipline and commitment were likely to be rewarded. The rewards were closely related to the efforts and character of the pharmacist. Success was easily measured by studying the balance sheet.
Nowadays we are as likely to be employees as proprietors in community pharmacy but are still autonomous professionals. We are not all Quakers but we are all aware of our parental and cultural teachings. As people we know our values. If we fall by the wayside we may face punishment as prescribed by law.
Our customers see community pharmacists as guardians of the nation's medicines and as such we must have values that allow us to take on that responsibility and enjoy that privilege.
We, through the Society, decide on these values collectively and censure ourselves if we break the codes and laws that uphold these professional values.
How should we update our professional values? Perhaps by looking at the outcomes of our practice? Life expectancy is ever increasing. Long illnesses precede death and many illnesses are medicine induced. There are problems with compliance.
We do have a duty to review our professional values; a duty to our predecessors, our colleagues and primarily to our community. Practice research is the essential tool needed to discover in which way we should alter these values.
Sidney Holloway's article, "Values and the practice of pharmacy" (PJ, August 26, p308), was much more difficult to grasp than his political and social history of the society.
I found both book and article extremely stimulating and would like to thank Mr Holloway for them.
Barry Shooter
Romford, Essex