Dispensing in the shires
Guidance on orlistat
Co-op points the way

Dispensing in the shires

The news this week that an agreement has been reached between negotiators for pharmacists and doctors over dispensing in rural areas (see p342) is a welcome end to what has been a long-running dispute between the professions. The current regulations with their one-mile rule hark back to a time when only a few owned cars and the rest did not travel as much as people do today. This regulatory revision is long overdue.

Speaking at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Committee's annual dinner on March 12, Lord Hunt (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health) said that he had asked the Department of Health's lawyers to draw up new rules. These rules would be based on an agreement reached between the PSNC, the General Practitioners Committee and the Dispensing Doctors Association after three years of negotiations. Despite an outline agreement, there could be problems when the first draft of the new rules appears, if the legalese fails to match the original terms and conditions. The devil, as ever, will be in the detail. We would urge the Department to keep in close touch with all the parties during the drafting to avoid the possibility of loopholes being accidentaly created or of the negotiations being restarted.

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Guidance on orlistat

Making orlistat available for specific people on NHS prescription is a move that should be welcomed. Furthermore, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s guidance (p350), limiting supply of orlistat to people who have demonstrated an ability to lose weight by dietary control, seems sensible. Allowing treatment of all obese patients with a body mass index above 30kg/m², rather than limiting it for patients with accompanying life-threatening disease, provides a valuable weapon in fighting obesity in the United Kingdom.

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Co-op points the way

The Co-operative Group is to be congratulated on its initiative to put Braille markings on all of its own-brand and pharmacy medicines (see p343). Its actions for disabled customers speak louder than words. If the Co-op will share some of its experience as to how production problems can be overcome then perhaps others will follow suit.

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