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| Helen Remington: clinical services have part-time funding, while trusts want full-time services |
Hospital pharmacy’s culture is to stretch to meet new demands, but staff
are experiencing burnout as a result, said Mrs Helen Remington (president, Guild
of Healthcare Pharmacists) at the Hospital Pharmacist conference dinner on November
1.
Clinical services were funded to operate on a part-time, part-week basis but
trusts now needed a 24-hour service, seven days a week, the guild president
went on. The labour required to provide this service was neither funded nor
available. The Government was increasing the number of doctors and nurses but
where were the pharmacists to support them, she wanted to know. Extra preregistration
trainee posts had been announced but would there be additional funding for undergraduate
places?
A nationally recognised plan to tackle the problems being experienced by the
hospital pharmacy service was needed, Mrs Remington stated.
The guild was involved with two initiatives with a view to addressing the need
for a national strategy. The first was a strategy being tackled jointly by the
guild and the Hospital Pharmacists Group and the second was a guild strategy
for the next three to five years.
The Department of Health was working with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on
work-force planning. This would undoubtedly include talks about the increased
use of technicians, technician registration and supervision. The guild was a
supporter of technician registration and regulation and this was an issue that
the guild was expected to arrange in the profession.
The challenge for the Society and the guild was to develop defined strategies
and deliver on them.