The National Pharmaceutical Association board is concerned that the cost of
piloting and implementing an electronic transfer of prescriptions (ETP) solution
could fall on the pharmacy profession. It considers this to be unacceptable.
NPA representatives who had attended a meeting for potential bidders for the
ETP pilot reported that the Department of Health considered that the substantial
ETP implementation costs should fall upon pharmacy. Board members felt that
it was unrealistic and inequitable for the profession to shoulder implementation
costs on its own, particularly as the principal beneficiary would be the Department.
The Government’s changing health agenda was all about patient-centred health
care and increased patient convenience. ETP would improve patient care through
improved quality of prescribing and an enhanced ability to establish platforms
for pharmacy-based medicines management and repeat dispensing schemes. A more
transparent and controlled system would also give the Government the opportunity
to control fraud.
The NPA board hoped that when it considered bids the Department would refer
to the 15 key principles agreed between the National Health Service and professional
bodies in 1977 — and particularly the principle that the system should
not allow the direction of prescriptions to a specific pharmacy or group of
pharmacies.
The board also hoped that the Department would not support any system that failed
to provide the infrastructure to facilitate the wide range of patient-focused
pharmacy based services set out in the pharmacy strategy document.
Other matters considered at the NPA’s October board meeting are reported
below.
Pharmacy plan Considering an interim report produced by their “Pharmacy in the future” working group, board members were concerned that the plan should not be seen as the end of control of entry, which they felt was not the Government’s intention. The Government’s particular concern was that control of entry should not impede plans to establish pharmacies in one-stop primary care centres in needy areas. Representations would be made to the Government for a consortium approach to be adopted. This would allow pharmacies to remain in competition in the surrounding area while co-operating fully in the primary care centre. A paper outlining the advantages of the consortium approach in the new primary care centres would be prepared, as would a document outlining key issues for members to consider when giving their views on the pharmacy programme to local NHS bodies.
NVQs The board heard that the NPA training department had been approved as a centre for the award of national vocational qualification assessor qualifications. The department was also to bid for acceptance as a national training provider for Modern Apprenticeships. It was applying for centre approval for the assessment of key skills for Modern Apprenticeships trainees.
Treatment Notes The association had negotiated a deal to enable members who bought the Consumers’ Association’s Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin to access Treatment Notes, a consumer-focused version of key DTB articles. For a special annual subscription of £57.50, members could purchase 12 issues of DTB and 10 copies of the eight issues of Treatment Notes.